Skuldalið
by WhySoSerious1992
Summary: sequel to 'It Ain't Easy Being a Stark.' As Tony Stark's daughter, Erika is used to stress. Throw in a Norse god of Mischief and his mythical children, and her life goes from stressful to just plain weird.
1. Chapter 1

**First and foremost—please take a moment of silence for all the victims of the shooting in Connecticut.**

**Now then, I know the Iron Man novelization puts Tony's age around 35 when Iron Man takes place, which I'm guessing happens in 2008 since that's when the movie came out, but for the sake of this story, let's say he's around 37 or 38 during Iron Man; that means he's a little older when Howard and Maria die—19 or 20. If I left his age alone, he would only be 16 when Erika was born, and that's a little too young (even for Tony).**

**Enough of my rambling—I give you the first chapter of the sequel to "It Ain't Easy Being a Stark." If you haven't read that, I suggest you do that before continuing on**. **The first few chapters are gonna be sorta prequel-ish.**

* * *

_***December 24****th****, 1993***_

_Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring—not even a mouse._

Yeah, Tony wished he was that lucky.

No, instead of sleeping (he was actually _trying_ to get a decent night's sleep for once), he was wide awake at three a.m., trying to convince an excited toddler to go to sleep. "C'mon, Kiddo, Santa won't come if you don't go to sleep," he said tiredly to the little girl practically bouncing around her room.

"Can't sleep," she said, her messy brown hair flying every which way as she was jumping on the bed. Tony snatched her out of the air mid-jump and she squealed. "Daaaaaddy!" she whined, struggling in his grip.

"For Christ's sake, will you calm down already? Jeez, what did your mother feed you?"

"Don't blame this one on me," a smooth (male) voice said from the doorway. "You're the one who gave her all those sweets after dinner."

"Momma!" The little girl squirmed out of Tony's arms and launched herself at the newcomer. "Momma, I can't sleep! What if I fall asleep and miss Santa? What if he doesn't come at all?"

"Come now, Erika, surely it would be best for you to try and sleep—the sooner you do, the sooner you can open your gifts."

Erika pouted.

"Erika Maria Stark, stop pouting and get into bed," her mother scolded, and Erika dropped her gaze guiltily. "Sorry, Momma," she said quietly, and climbed under the covers on her bed. Her parents tucked her in and kissed her goodnight, and then turned out her lights (she didn't like sleeping with lights on) and closed her door (having her door open bothered her).

Once outside his daughter's room, Tony grinned at Erika's 'Momma.' "I love it when you get all maternal."

Loki rolled his eyes. "I _am_ her mother, Stark—or did you forget?"

"Kinda hard to forget something like that," Tony answered, and then dragged his lover back to bed. Once under the covers, Tony's previously sleepy mind was now wide awake. He lay there with Loki, thinking about how the god felt in his arms and how different this was from his female form—the one Loki used while out in public.

The one he'd used to give birth to Erika.

To the public, he was Lorna Aven, former Scandinavian supermodel, long-term girlfriend of Tony Stark, and the mother of his daughter. Lorna was all curves, while Loki was all firm, wiry muscle. Her hair was long and wavy, while his was short and straight; the only similarities were height and eye color—Loki stood at an impressive six feet in both forms (and honestly, Tony didn't mind that even as a woman, Loki stood about four inches taller than him), and his eyes were always the same shade of unnaturally bright green.

Out in the public, Loki had to put on a show. Here, though, in the privacy of Tony's home—in _their_ home—Loki could be himself.

Tony sighed and closed his eyes.

"Stop thinking so loud," Loki said tiredly. "If I don't get some sort of rest, I'll be dead on my feet tomorrow and the Allfather will become suspicious."

Tony frowned. "Do you _have_ to go back tomorrow?" he asked.

Loki sat up. "I've put it off long enough as it is; If I don't return to Asgard, my father will send someone to search for me. Believe me, Stark, you don't want my brother or his friends to come here."

Tony sat up and leaned against Loki. "Erika's gonna miss you."

Loki glanced at him, raising an eyebrow. _"Only_ Erika?"

Tony shrugged and muttered something along the lines of "Fine, I'll miss you, too."

Loki smirked. "That's what I though." The smirk softened into a small smile. "Don't worry, Tony. I'll only be gone a few days, just to reassure Father and Thor."

Loki's family didn't know why he spent so much time on Earth, and the last time he'd spoken to them he'd simply told them he was bored and it interested him. It was enough to keep them out of his business, and one or two concealing charms hid his mortal lover and their child from Heimdall's All-Seeing Gaze (the charms didn't exactly conceal them—merely urged the gatekeeper not to notice them).

He did this for Erika's protection; he didn't want her to suffer the same fate as his other children.

Loki forced himself to stop thinking about his children and focused on the present. "I'll be here for Christmas, then leave tomorrow night." He lay back down and dragged Tony with him. "Now, for the love of Odin, go to sleep."

And that was that.

* * *

**A/N: **there's chapter one I have no idea how long this is gonna be


	2. Chapter 2

Tony was not a morning person. He _hated_ getting up early.

That said, he wasn't all too happy when Erika came flying into his and Loki's room at sunrise and hurled herself onto the bed, screaming, "MOMMA, DADDY, GET UP! GET UP, IT'S CHRISTMAS!"

Tony groaned and buried his face in his pillow. "Already?" he groaned. He'd _just_ gotten to sleep, too . . . .

Loki sat up and gathered the child in his arms, forcing her to sit still. "Daddy's not quite ready to get up just yet, Love," he said softly, kissing the top of her head. "Why not give him a while longer?"

Erika looked like someone had given her a puppy and then taken it away (Loki _had_ suggested they get her a puppy for Christmas, but Tony had decided against it). She stopped squirming on Loki's lap and continued to pout. "I wanna open my presents," she whined.

Loki sighed and looked over at Tony, who looked like he was already back asleep. "Tell you what, ask Daddy if you can open one present—just one," he said to the pouting toddler, who visibly brightened. She wriggled out of Loki's arms and climbed onto Tony, who groaned.

"Daddy, can I please, please, pretty please open just one present until you and Momma get up?" she asked sweetly, batting her eyelashes.

"Go for it," Tony mumbled sleepily, eyes still closed. Erika squealed and was out of the room in the blink of an eye.

Tony groaned again and rolled over. "Five more minutes," he mumbled, yawning.

If Tony had know what was about to happen, he would've gotten up and spent the entire day with his family; he had no way of knowing, though, so he went back to sleep.

* * *

"I don't want you to go."

Christmas day had come and gone, and now it was time for Loki to return to Asgard.

"I'll be back," Loki reassured Erika, who was stubbornly holding onto him. "I'll always come back."

Erika still refused to let go, her bright green eyes shining with tears. She hated it when Loki left—even when he said he was coming back, she always feared that he wouldn't; that he would stay in Asgard, with others like him, who wouldn't ever get old or die.

Tony and Erika were getting older every day.

"Promise?" Erika asked quietly.

Loki kissed the top of her head. "Always," he said gently, and handed her off to Tony, who took hold of her and rubbed his hand up and down her back.

"Don't worry, Kiddo, you know your Momma loves you, and he'll always come back to you," Tony said to the toddler while looking at Loki.

_He'll always come back to __**us**_.

Loki gave Erika another kiss on the head and Tony a soft kiss on the lips, and then he was gone.

Tony wasn't all-seeing. If he was, he would've seen what awaited Loki in Asgard, and he would've stopped Loki from going back.

* * *

Loki met with his family upon his return to the golden halls of Asgard. No, not family—relatives.

His family was back on Midgard, awaiting his return, and he vowed to return to them as fast as he could.

* * *

Heimdall had Seen. He'd Seen, and he'd gone to the Allfather.

He hadn't Seen Erika—thank goodness—but he'd Seen Loki's mortal lover.

Among the Aesir, having a mortal lover was distasteful, never mind a lover of the same gender; they were a simple people, with simple views.

To say that Odin was displeased was an understatement. The Allfather thought highly of Midgard, but not so much that he'd accept his youngest son taking up with a midgardian. He had plans, after all, to marry off both of his sons, so that they would produce heirs. In Odin's plans, there would one day be a Lokison in the family (he did not acknowledge Sliepnir, Fenrir or Jormugand as legitimate heirs), or a Thorson; this could not happen if his heirs consorted with mortals—and of the same gender, no less.

Over the next day, Loki was given specific instructions on exactly what he was to do upon returning to Midgard.

"Father, you cannot ask this of me!" Loki pleaded. "What I do and who I spend my time with is none of your business, you have _no right—_."

"I have **every** right!" Odin thundered. "I am your sovereign, and you will do as I say!"

Loki wanted to scream at Odin how much Tony meant to him, how he was nothing without his partner and their little girl. Thoughts of Hela and of his sons stopped him from speaking these words aloud.

Odin would never know about Erika if Loki had anything to say about it.

Loki conceded, in the end—he would end things with his lover, but only if he was allowed to return for one more day.

Odin granted him this small favor, and Loki returned to Midgard the next day.

* * *

"Hey gorgeous, what's up with the gender swap?" Tony asked Loki upon his return, for he returned to them as Lorna.

"I simply choose to wear this skin today," was all Loki—Lorna said as she grasped Tony's hands in hers. "Come, I wish to spend the day with you and Erika. Where is she?"

"Momma!"

Lorna caught Erika as the girl threw herself into her arms. "Hello, my little one," Lorna greeted, smiling gently. "How about we all go out and do something fun today—would you like that?"

"Yeah!" Erika said happily.

Thus, plans were made to go to the park. After that, they saw a movie, and then relaxed on Tony's own private beach. It was the most peaceful Lorna had ever felt, and she didn't want it to end.

It had to, though.

At the end of the day, Lorna stood by Erika's bed and held her close. "Momma loves you," she said quietly, trying not to cry. "Never forget that, Erika—I will _always_ love you." She kissed the drowsy toddler on the head and tucked her in, then gently closed the door to Erika's room.

Tony wasn't in their room—their outing had filled his head with ideas and he was down in his workshop. Lorna went down there and used her verbal skills to lure him to bed.

She wanted to be with the man she loved, one last time.

* * *

**A/N: **I had so many feels while writing this.


	3. Chapter 3

When Tony was sleeping, Lorna changed back into Loki. He muttered a few choice words and a moment later, a copy of Lorna appeared in bed beside Tony. She looked like she was sleeping, but when Tony reached for a warm body in the morning, all he would find was a corpse.

Loki knelt by Tony's side of the bed and placed his hand on the inventor's forehead. He pulled every memory Tony had of him and changed them so he wouldn't remember Loki Odinson; he'd only ever remember Lorna Aven.

Loki gave Tony one final kiss, and then went to his daughter's room in order to alter her memories. Once he was finished, he quickly left the house, before he had time to change his mind and go against the Allfather. He teleported to New Mexico, Midgard's landing sight for the Bifrost, and called for Heimdall to bring him to Asgard. Upon his arrival, he was met by his brother, no doubt sent by Odin to ensure his return.

"Welcome home, brother!" Thor greeted, beaming.

Loki smoothed his features into an unreadable mask before giving Thor a small smile. "It's good to be back," he lied easily, and followed Thor back to the palace.

When Tony woke up, he was surprised to see Lorna still sleeping beside him. She was usually up by now, coaxing him out of bed at an ungodly hour—mainly, before noon.

'Must be tired," Tony thought, and he decided to leave her be.

Tony went to move hair away from her face and kiss her gently on the forehead and he shivered slightly—her skin was a bit colder than usual. Tony pulled the blankets over her more and got up to take a shower. After drying off and getting dressed, he went to wake up Erika and try and make her breakfast (or lunch, seeing how it was already past eleven). He made her what was supposed to be an omelet and Erika glanced at it before saying she'd wait for Lorna to get up to eat something.

Tony shrugged, turned on the TV for Erika, and then sat beside her while browsing the web. When he looked at a clock again, it was almost six.

"Is Momma up yet?" Erika asked, regretting her decision to wait for food.

Tony frowned. "Dunno, I'll go check." He went back upstairs to his and Lorna's room and Erika turned her attention back on the cartoon she was watching.

Tony peered into his and Lorna's room.

She was still fast asleep, which was weird because she never slept this late—being a former supermodel, she'd always had to rise early, and after meeting Tony she'd tried to get him into the same habits.

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty, rise and shine!"

No response.

Tony's playful smile faltered. "Babe?" He knelt on the bed next to Lorna and shook her shoulder. "Hey, babe, wake up—Kiddo wanted to know when you're getting up."

Still nothing. Lorna didn't even move.

Worried now, Tony checked to see if her breathing was irregular.

She wasn't breathing at all.

Tony's own breaths sped up as he checked for a pulse, a heartbeat, any signs of movement . . . . .

Nothing.

"Lorna, this isn't funny," Tony said, his chest tight. "C'mon, Babe, I know you like the odd cruel joke now and again, but this _really_ isn't funny." He shook her again. "Seriously, get up. Lorna, get up. Lorna!"

No matter how hard he shook the pale body on the bed, there was no response. Tony stood up and backed away from the bed, his vision swimming.

"Lorna?"

**A/N: **again, so many feels.


	4. Chapter 4

**After this, I'm going to try and sum up Iron man 2 in a few paragraphs, so bear with me.**

Tony called Rhodey and asked him to come over to watch Erika.

He didn't want her knowing yet, so Rhodey stayed with Erika while Tony called a medical team to his house.

After just a few short minutes of examining Lorna, the medical examiner pulled off his gloved and sighed. One look from him, and Tony already knew before they said anything.

She was gone.

They took Lorna—they took her body with them to do an autopsy, and Erika came running into the room just in time to see her mother being put in a large black bag and carried away. Tony had to pick her up and hold her so she wouldn't go running after them. When they were gone, Tony sat Erika down and did his best to explain what was going on.

Erika didn't take the news well—and what child would. She started crying and screaming, yelling how that wasn't true, and that she wanted her Momma right now.

Tony tried to calm her down but she wasn't having any of that, and when she couldn't follow her Momma she started crying even harder.

Tony held her and did his best not to cry.

They had the funeral shortly after, and Tony didn't recognize half the people at the service. When people he didn't recognize gave him their condolences, he accepted them with a small nod and held onto Erika just a little tighter. He took Erika up to the closed casket so she could lay a black rose on its lid, and they watched together as the casket was lowered into the ground.

Tony didn't even cry at his parents' funeral, but he cried now. He cried and held his daughter close—held onto the only thing he had left of Lorna.

After that cloudy day, looking at Erika hurt. She had the same green eyes as her mother, and every time he looked at her he saw her mother. It hurt so much he started drinking again (Lorna had gotten him to sober up, for a while) to numb the pain. He hired a PA to take care of all his personal matters, and he left the company in Obie's hands. Several months after Lorna's death, Tony went to a party and came back with a stranger, too drunk to even consider that maybe having sex with a stranger where your three year old daughter could easily walk in was a bad idea. He did it again the next night, and the night after that.

Lorna's death left part of him empty and he tried filling that emptiness with booze and sex—it never worked, but after a while it just became habit.

After one night, when he was about to fuck someone on his couch, they were interrupted by a scared looking Erika, clad in footie pajamas and holding a teddy bear. Tony took her back to bed, and after that he made sure to always move things up to the bedroom; Erika never went into his room without knocking.

As Erika got older, Tony would swear up and down that Erika was trying to get the women he brought back to leave. After learning karate, she started kicking them in the shins. After learning how to play the violin, she asked for an electric one and hooked it up to his AI. She started making all this terrifying artwork that really seemed to unsettle the women he brought him.

Tony had always felt like he didn't exactly understand his daughter, but he'd never felt more like that then when she came stomping into his office, yelling about Stark Industries and animal testing. She was so upset, but instead of talking to her he yelled at her and had her thrown out of the building.

'_I hate you! I wish _you_ had died instead of Mom!'_

Those twelve words struck a nerve, and for the rest of the day he heard them over and over. When he went home later that night to find her missing, he'd been scared out of his mind. He was worried that she'd been taken, or had gotten into an accident somewhere.

When the police department called, he'd never been more relieved.

He'd also been pissed.

Things with Erika were rough after that. They didn't get along at all, and after that day she started calling him Tony instead of Dad. Seeing these changes hurt and he started drinking more. She seemed to hate him, and it looked like that would never change.

Then Afghanistan happened, and everything bad about their relationship didn't matter anymore. All the fights, all the arguments, none of it mattered—Tony was alive, and he'd been able to go back to his family.

He'd been so scared when Obadiah shot at her the night he took Tony's reactor, and he'd been relieved to see that she was okay (He'd insisted she wore a sling, even though she said it didn't hurt).

After the Iron Man incident, Tony thought things would be alright, and they were—for a time, anyway.

* * *

**A/N: **yay for recaps.


	5. Chapter 5

**Okay, so the last chapter ended roughly around where It Ain't Easy Being a Stark ended, and this next chapter's gonna fast forward to the Avengers movie. Iron Man 2 will be mentioned briefly, but like I already said, I don't have the patience to go through the whole movie.**

**In case anyone was wondering, Erika was 18 during Iron Man, so she's 22 during the Avengers.**

* * *

"It's gonna be a long day," Erika sighed quietly, leaning back against the taxi cab seat. 'This is the last time I take a cab,' she thought. "Is traffic always this bad?" she asked the driver, who didn't respond. 'Sheesh, no wonder New Yorkers are always so cranky,' she thought.

The cab moved an inch.

"Ugh, I miss Happy," she groaned.

The plan had been simple enough—get on a non-private jet to Manhattan, take a cab to Stark Tower, and surprise Tony. Erika had been at school for so long now she hadn't seen him in months—not since the thing with Ivan Vanko and Tony almost dying, which she preferred not to talk about, thank you very much.

Erika's plan just had one hitch—it was taking forever! Finally getting fed up, Erika pulled a wad of bills from her purse and put them up on the front seat, and then got out of the cab. She knocked on the trunk, signaling to the driver to pop it open, then grabbed her suitcase and snapped up the handle. She got up on the sidewalk and started walking towards Stark Tower. Her journey was cut short, however, when a huge hole ripped in the sky above her dad's tower and aliens—actual freaking aliens!—started shooting everything. Erika took shelter where she could and waited there for what felt like forever, all the while thinking one thing—what the hell is going on!?

* * *

Before anyone arrived at the tower, while Selvig was setting up, Loki had looked inside the penthouse. He brushed a hand along a table and picked up a framed photograph. In it, a girl with brown and blonde hair stood smiling in a graduation gown and cap, holding up a diploma, and her bright green eyes were filled with pride.

"My, how you've grown," Loki murmured, brushing his hands over the glass, his blue eyes flickering green. The green was buried beneath a sea of blue and Loki put down the picture. "Sentiment," he sneered, and then left to check Selvig's progress.

* * *

"Care for a drink?"

"Please tell me you're going to appeal to my humanity," Loki said with a small smirk, following Tony inside Stark Tower.

"Actually, I was planning on threatening you,' Tony replied.

"Oh, you should've left your armor on for that," Loki said, winking.

Something itched at the back of Tony's mind, but he ignored it. "Eh, it's got a bit of mileage—plus, you've got the glow stick of destiny." He gestured to Loki's spear. "No drink? You sure?" he shrugged. "I'm having one."

They bantered back and forth a bit, that itch never leaving Tony's mind. Something about this, this crazy Norse "god," seemed . . . familiar.

"What have I to fear?" Loki asked, smirking.

"The Avengers."

Loki looked at Tony, who gave a half-shrug. "It's what we call ourselves, sort of like a team. Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

Loki was unimpressed. "I've met them."

Tony chuckled. "Yeah. Granted, takes us a while to get any traction, but let's do a headcount—your brother, the demi-god."

Loki rolled his eyes.

"The super-soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend, a man with breathtaking anger-management issues, two master assassins and _you_, big fella, managed to piss off every one of them."

Loki winked. "That was the plan."

Tony surveyed the god—tall, lean, way too pale . . . he racked his memory, trying to think of where they might've met before. Loki reminded him of . . . . Of someone . . . . He snapped back to reality. "Yeah, not a good plan." Tony sipped his drink. "See, when they come—and we will—we'll come for you."

"I have an army," Loki said boldly.

"We have a Hulk," Tony replied quickly.

Loki tilted his head. "I thought the beast had wandered off."

"Yeah, you're missing the point," Tony snapped. "There's no throne, there's no version of this where you come out on top. (Actually, he could think of a few—bad Tony! Focus!) _Maybe_ your army comes, and _maybe_ it's too much, but in the end it's all on you." Tony raised the glass to his lips. "Because if we can't protect the Earth you can be damn well sure we'll avenge it."

Loki stalked forward and Tony tried again to think of where he's seen this guy before, because seriously, the way he moved was really familiar. His musings were cut short when Loki tried to make Tony a mind slave like Barton, and when that didn't work Loki threw Tony out of the window.

* * *

Thanos was gone from Loki's mind—His presence had left after the Beast had flung Loki about like a doll, and Loki woke up more clear headed than he'd been since this whole thing began. He crawled up the steps, his body and mind tired beyond belief. He turned and was met with Barton pointing an arrow at his face, the other Avengers standing around him.

"If it's all the same to you," Loki said tiredly, looking at Tony Stark. "I'll have that drink now."

Tony smirked.

* * *

It was finally over. The army was gone. Loki was surrounded, and except for the bone-deep exhaustion, Tony felt pretty good. All that was left to do was contain Loki until Thor could take him back to Asgard.

'So, once again, the day was saved, thanks to the Avengers!' Tony couldn't help but think. His musings were cut short when a very familiar voice disturbed a very unfamiliar situation.

"_What in the ever-loving_ fuck_ is going on?_"

Tony almost dropped his helmet.

Barton's arrow and Romanov's guns changed direction and now pointed at a very worn-looking Erika. Thor and the Captain still kept watch over Loki, who hadn't moved.

"Hey, Robin Hood, what where you point that thing," Tony snapped, stepping forward.

The girl looked at Tony. "What's going on?"

Tony met her at the doorway and gave her a side hug. "It's a long story, Kiddo," he said tiredly. "I'll tell you later, when you're settled—wait, why are you even here?"

Erika bit her lower lip. "I wanted to surprise you . . . .Surprise!"

"Stark, what the hell is going on?" Barton asked, never lowering his weapon.

Erika looked from Barton to Romonov, to Thor and Cap standing over Loki. "Wow, Dad, um . . . new friends?"

"Dad?" Cap choked out. "Tony, what is going on and who's this?"

Tony grinned. "This, Capsicle, is Erika Maria Stark—my one and only daughter. Erika, meet the Avengers, who just save the world from that little shithead," he nodded towards Loki.

"Oh," said Erika, because she didn't have much else to say. "Cool."

* * *

Once Loki was contained, the team went for Shawarma—whatever that was. They stayed in Tony's tower until Thor could get Loki back to Asgard, and Tony decided introductions were in order.

"You knowAgent Romanov—better known as Natalie Rushman," he began.

Erika nodded at the redhead and turned her attention to Barton. "What's with the bow and arrow, Legalos?" she asked.

"Agent Clint Barton, Ma'am," Barton said, holding out his hand. Erika shook it and smiled.

"I like a man with good aim," she said, and Barton had the gall to laugh.

"Yeah, she's yours alright," he laughed.

Erika's focus moved onto Steve Rogers. "I don't believe it," she said. "Captain America, in the flesh—nice to meet you."

"Ma'am," Steve greeted, shaking her hand. Once he let go, Erika turned to Tony and said "I want one," to which Tony replied, "No."

Erika's smile was brightest for Dr. Banner. "I heard a lot about you already, especially the part where you saved this guy from going splat." She surprised everyone by giving the doctor a quick hug. "Thank you—both of you," she said quietly, and then stepped back out of the man's personal space.

The Thunder god felt the most awkward—and Erika didn't know why; probably because after viewing the tapes, she had the smallest bit of sympathy for Loki.

"So, you're the God of Thunder, huh?"

"Indeed I am," Thor said proudly (and loudly). "It is a pleasure to meet the daughter of such a hero as the Man of Iron."

Erika ducked her head and tried to hide a smile. "Yeah, he's a regular Knight in tarnished Armor," she chucked.

"Hey, watch it," Tony warned teasingly.

Erika didn't bother hiding her smile. She yawned and looked around. "Can we continue this little meet and greet tomorrow? I'm kinda wiped," she said tiredly.

The avengers retired for the evening, deciding to tackle the Loki problem in the morning. There were no extra agents around because Loki was left with the best guard Tony had—Jarvis. Only two people could gain access to Loki's holding cell, and, incidentally, both of them were curious about the norse god. One of them decided to try and sate their curiosity, while the other decided it could wait until morning.

* * *

Loki was tired.

It had been a long day for him, too, and he was glad it was over. He wasn't looking forward to facing the Allfather, but whatever Odin had planned for him was nowhere near as bad as what Thanos would do to Loki if (when) the Mad Titan found him.

_If you fail, if the Tesseract is kept from us, there will be no realm, no barren moon, no crevice where he can not find you._

Loki shuddered slightly. He could still see The Other, still feel its putrid breath on his skin as it crept up behind him and laid its slimy hands on him.

_You think you know pain? He will make you long for something as sweet as pain._

Loki's memories were (thankfully) interrupted when the door leading to his cell opened and the girl from earlier stepped inside. She walked around the large glass cage (like the one on the helicarrier) and stopped in front of it, where Loki could get a good look at her. She was tall—not too tall, but taller than the average mortal woman. Her hair was brown, streaked with platinum blonde, and her eyes were as bright and as green as his own.

"So the Man of Iron now sends his child to interrogate me," Loki said quietly. "Did he not have the courage to come see me himself?"

The girl crossed his arms. "He's had a rough day—I thought it would be better to let him rest." She tilted her head. "Speaking or rest, you look like you could use some yourself—no offense, but you look like shit."

Loki straightened. "You dare speak to me in such a familiar tone?" he asked.

"Oh, please," she scoffed. "I've seen the tapes, okay—I know your glowstick of destiny was what was causing you to go insane in the membrane, so you can drop the whole 'holier than thou' shtick."

"Ooh, brave words for a mortal," Loki chucked. "What makes you think I wouldn't still crush you like an ant under a boot?"

The girl straightened and unfolded her arms. "Two reasons," she started, and held up a finger. "One—I've actually been talking with . . . . well, with someone who knows you pretty well. We talked earlier, and according to him, mass murder isn't really your style."

"Whoever you spoke with doesn't know me, then," he said, remembering the destruction of the Bifrost.

She tilted her head. "I'd say he knows you pretty well." She held up another finger. "Second reason—your eyes. According to all the security footage we have of you during the invasion, they were the coldest blue I've ever seen, and they matched Barton's and Selvig's. Right now, though, they're as green as mine, and that happened after what we call 'cognitive recalibration.'" A beat. "They changed after Dr. Banner threw you around like a Raggedy Ann doll."

Loki frowned. "If you have a point, please make it."

The girl shifted her weight and crossed her arms again. "My point is this—you were as much of a puppet in this as Agent Barton, and I'm sure if you explain that to the Avengers they'd be willing to—"

"What?" Loki snapped. "Offer me protection? Salvation?" He sneered. "I threatened their planet, you think they'd _help me_?"

She shrugged. "Maybe, if you just tell them your side of this whole thing."

Something occurred to Loki then, and he stood up from the single bench in his cell. "My, but you're eager to help the enemy," he said slowly. "Why so anxious?" He stepped towards her and she looked like she wanted to take a step back. "You arrived in time to see the heroes saving the day and the villain locked away, ready to face judgment—why so eager to change that?"

Erika bit her lip and shifted her weight. "it's not right," she said after a pause. "If what Jor told me is right, than this invasion doesn't make any sense." She paused again. "You like us—you think we're interesting, and the last time I checked, you don't try and enslave something you like."

Loki frowned. "What in the nine realms are you talking about, girl?" he snapped.

She let out a shaky breath and looked back up, meeting his stare. "I know who you are, even if I don't remember you. I've been able to talk to my brothers and sister since I was 18, and they helped me figure it out."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Loki said harshly. He did though, and how he wished he could say that, say how glad he was she'd been able to connect with her family, but he had to be careful about what he said because Heimdall was watching, he was always watching, and now she was old enough all his concealing charms had faded—

"I don't know what you did to make Dad and I forget, but I know why you did whatever it is you did. I know you hid me from Heimdall, from all of Asgard—"

"Stop," he said sharply.

"— because you were afraid of what would happen to me if they found out. Odin took Sleipnir from you, threw Jormungand into the ocean—"

"Stop this, right now," he said again, louder, not wanting to think about Sleipner or Jormangund, or any of his children.

"—He chained Fenrir and locked him below Asgard, with a sword in his throat, and he banished Hela to Niflheim." She paused for a second. "And Narfi and Vali . . . . . I never got to meet them, but I imagine they were just as brave as Fen, just as kind as Hela, just as cunning as Jor—"

"**Enough**!" Loki half-shrieked and it seemed like she would be silent. She backed away towards the door and turned to open the door. Before she did, though, she took a deep breath and looked up. "Heimdall, I know you're watching right now. Loki is innocent—he was being controlled by someone or something, and he deserves a fair trial. If Odin denies him that, he better get ready for trouble."

* * *

**A/N:** Sooooo, whatcha think? Did Erika make the right move?

I have a vague idea of where I want this story to go, but nothing's set in stone; I want to hear what you guys think—should Erika be outed as Loki's daughter? Should her siblings make an appearance? What about Tony and the rest of the team? If you have ideas, please don't hesitate to share them.

Completely unrelated question—who's seen the new Les Miserables movie?


	6. Chapter 6

There's a plot to this, I swear, and I'll get to it eventually.

* * *

Erika offered the security footage as evidence for Loki's trial—without Tony's knowledge, I might add (she didn't even know if a portable DVD player would work in Asgard, but it was worth a try). The Avengers assembled in the park, and Thor took Loki back to Asgard.

Erika toyed with the idea of telling Tony the truth about Loki, but figured she'd better wait until she had a way to prove it.

"_Is your existence not proof enough?" Jormungand asked her, and she shook her head._

"_Dad remembers my mom—Lorna. All our memories of Loki are gone; I don't know how, but I don't have a way to get them back."_

"_But you do," her half-brother insisted. "The spell simply needs to be reversed."_

_Erika snorted. "Gee, is that all?" she asked sarcastically._

"_You can travel the Realms. What's stopping you from traveling to Asgard?"_

_Erika opened her mouth, then snapped it shut._

_She'd never thought of that._

"You okay, Kiddo?" Tony asked her later in the week.

Erika blinked and looked up from her position on the couch. "Fine. Why?" she asked, still bleary-eyed from the nap she'd woken up from.

Tony sat down on the arm of the couch. "You've been sleeping a lot lately, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but . . . isn't too much sleep a bad thing?"

Erika shrugged. "I'm fine, Dad. Really. "I've just been a little tired, that's all."

"_Damn, missed it again," Erika muttered as she sat before what could only be described as a cave with chains blocking the entrance. At the cave's center sat an impossibly huge dark brown wolf, with chains wrapped around its limbs and the hilt of a sword sticking out of its throat._

'_**Looking for Father again?' **__The wolf's glowing green eyes stared at her and its head tilted slightly. Like the first time she'd met Jormungand, she could hear the words in her head._

"_It's almost like I can't go anywhere that you or the others aren't—I can only visit my family, and the one family member I want to see, I can't get to." She got up and paced angrily. "This is the fifth time I've ended up here—in Asgard, but not where I need to be, and it's starting to get really frustrated."_

'_**You're trying your hardest?'**_

"_Yes, Fenrir, and no matter how many times I try it's not working!"_

'_**Try again.'**_

Erika tried and tried, but her visions led her back to Fenrir, or to Sleipnir's stables, and if she left where they were, she'd wake up. Several months after the battle in Manhattan, Thor returned to Earth to speak with S.H.I.E.L.D, and the Avengers were called to the meeting (Erika couldn't go, but that didn't matter—she just hacked into S.H.I.E.L.D's security cameras and listened in on the meeting.

Loki's trial had come and gone, and his judgment had been passed—guilty of destroying the Bifrost, of almost destroying a realm, and attempting to conquer another realm. He'd been stripped of his powers and sentenced to banishment—and this is where Thor paused.

"My brother must endure the same punishment as I once did—he is banished to Midgard, and he must prove to be worthy before his power returns."

Suffice it to say, nobody was happy to hear that the nutjob was back on Earth. There was talk of imprisoning him, but Thor insisted he was harmless without his magic or otherworldly strength, and he would not be able to harm anyone.

Erika didn't watch any more after that.

* * *

"_He's on Midgard. Odin took his powers and banished him to Earth."_

"_So I've heard," Hela's voice was like a bell chiming, and she smirked. "Don't look so surprised—you'd be amazed with how much of the realms are under my watch—I am the Queen of the Dead, and death happens everywhere. I don't claim to be Lady Death, though, for she would frown upon me adopting her title."_

_Erika blinked. "Death is a girl . . . . ?"_

_Hela chuckled. "But of course."_

"_Okaaaay, moving on . . . . . So, what should I do? Should I try to find him? And if I do, then what?"_

_Hela shook her heads. "I don't have the answers you seek—only you can decide what is best."_

"_You're no help," Erika huffed._

"_Yes, but you love me anyway," Hela replied, and they both smiled—Erika had always wanted a sister, and now she finally had one."_

* * *

"Dad, Thor's here!" Erika called the next day, not mentioning that he had his little brother with him. "Mind telling me what's going on?" she asked as Tony exited the kitchen, glass of scotch in hand.

Tony gestured to the brothers, first to Thor, then to Loki. "Point Break needed a place to stash his little bro, so he and Rock of Ages are gonna crash here for a while." He sipped his drink.

Erika raised an eyebrow. "Really. And you're okay with this?"

Tony shrugged. "Not Really, but Director Dearest thought it was the best place to put them, since I was rebuilding to house everyone anyway—if they were up to it."

Erika looked from her dad to the two norse gods, then back to her dad.

Well, at least she didn't have to go looking for him.

* * *

**A/N:** Hey, look! Progress!


	7. Chapter 7

I am going to try and write what others before me have succeeded in writing—Loki being integrated into the Avengers' lives. I don't know how successful I'll be.

There is the barest hint of Frostiron in this chapter, but not much—it's only there if you squint, but there will be more in chapters to come.

* * *

Erika knocked softly on the door to what she hoped was Loki's room. She slowly opened it and peeked in when she got no response. Before she could blink, she was pulled into the room, the door was slammed shut, and Loki had her by the throat and raised her off the ground.

"Why do you mortals insist on bothering me," Loki growled. "First the Man of Iron, and now his petulant child."

Erika clawed at the hands on her throat and tried to yell for help, but he only squeezed harder.

"None of that," Loki cooed. "You came to me for a reason, and I don't see why we need to involve anyone else." He released her and she dropped to the ground, rubbing her throat.

"Two words," she gasped. "Impulse. Control."

Loki was unimpressed. "Say what you will, then leave me be—or I might change my mind about sparing your pathetic life."

"Gee, missed you too," she coughed, then stood up. She took a few deep breathes, then opened her mouth. "I want to know why you abandoned us."

Loki frowned. "Not **this** again—surely you don't still believe yourself to be one of my children." He smirked. "My children would tear you to pieces."

It was Erika's turn to smirk. "I've met them, actually, and they're not that bad—I don't see what all the fuss is about, really." She frowned. "I believe I've told you this, but you wouldn't listen."

"What use do I have of a child's whining?" Loki turned his back on her, signaling that they were done with the conversation.

Erika stood her ground. "I'm not giving up—I know the truth, and sooner or later you're going to undo whatever you did to my memories."

Loki spun around. "You dare speak to me like that?" He took a step towards her, and she tried her best not to take a step back. "I, who am a GOD among puny mortals? Insolent child, you would do well to leave now while I still allow it."

Erika gave him one last determined look, and then she left the room.

* * *

Once Erika left, Loki's legs wouldn't support his weight and he had to sit down. He combed his long, pale fingers through his untidy black hair and gave a shaky sigh.

'She's stubborn, just like her father,' he though.

It was pride and fear that kept Loki from speaking the truth—his own stubborn pride and the fear of what the Allfather would do should he discover this lost child of Loki's. The girl had magic in her—he could feel it, and he knew that she had no idea other than her self-proclaimed trips to visit her siblings. His concealing charms had faded, but she still remained hidden.

Loki wanted nothing more than to restore his little girl's memories and hold her close—hold her and never let her go. He also wished to restore Anthony (Tony—he hated being called Anthony, Loki remembered) Stark's memories, but it had been so long and he was sure the inventor wouldn't react kindly to the news that he had been love with a monster.

Loki didn't know what to do—he missed his family, and the harder he tried to forget the years he'd spent on Midgard, the more he remembered them. He remembered Tony's erratic behavior, his abnormal sleeping habits, his excessive drinking, all the time he spent in his own laboratory, building and experimenting, always trying new things. He remembered how Erika loved to watch sunrises when she could, how she had trouble sitting still when she had ideas and things that excited her (just like her father), how she'd insist on a bedtime story every night and loved to hear tales of Asgard.

Loki let out another shaky breath and straightened. Outcast or not, Tony and Erika would still be in danger if he restored their memories, so at that moment he vowed to himself that they would never be restored.

* * *

It was three months before anything changed.

For those first three months, Loki stayed in his room. Food was left outside his door, and empty plates were found later when someone went to go check on him. Thor was the one to take food to him, and he was the only one who ever tried to coax Loki out of his room. The crazy norse god didn't budge, though, but Thor never gave up. He did his best, and he even had a little help—Erika was bound and determined to get him out of that room, come Hel or high water (she never understood that expression, but it was all she could think of).

One the last day of the third month, Thor was successful—every morning, he had placed a mug of coffee in front of the door, and when he chose not to leave the precious liquid, the God of Chaos emerged only long enough to go to the kitchen, and demand a cup of coffee from Thor, and then he returned to his room.

It wasn't much, but progress was progress.

From that point on, Thor stopped bringing food to Loki and the god had to come and get it if he was hungry. Again, he only came out long enough to grab food.

After two weeks of this, Loki actually stayed in the kitchen long enough to eat. He ignored the others and everyone was fine with this—everyone except Thor.

"Brother, come and watch television with us!" Thor offered every night after dinner. Loki refused and returned to his room. The next day, the avengers were assembled to take care of Doombots, and when they returned to the tower they found Loki on the couch watching TV.

"Wow, Rock of Ages knows how to work a TV," Tony commented, smirking slightly.

"Contrary to your belief, Stark, I am not a complete imbecile—the television is simple enough to operate, after all."

Tony glanced at the TV again and realized something—not only had Loki managed to turn on the TV, he'd managed to turn on the DVD player, and he'd arranged a stack of movies by the TV.

"Geez, you learn fast," Tony muttered, and then went to his bar for a drink.

"I'll take that drink now," Loki called when the other Avengers had left, and it took Tony a moment to realize what Loki was talking about.

Erika left her room later that night to get a snack, and she paused when she came across the living room. Jurassic Park was playing, and it was on the part where the fat guy who turned off the security system got killed by a Dilophosaurus (the one that spits venom and has that frill thing on its neck). She knelt by the TV and looked through a stack of DVDs that had been put there—The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Sandlot, Mrs. Doubtfire, Hocus Pocus, Sister Act 2, Homeward Bound, We're Back! A Dinosaur Story . . . . . these were all movies Erika had loved as a little girl. She'd watched them with her parents over and over, and she'd had almost all of them memorized—it had been years since she'd seen any of them, though, so she decided to restart Jurassic park, since whoever had been watching it had fallen asleep—her dad, she realized as she went to sit down and had to move his legs. He was a heavy sleeper, though, and this movement didn't wake him up. She sat through the whole movie and was reminded of when it had first come out—they'd had promotional toys, and she'd gotten all of them. When the movie was over, she turned everything off and went back to bed.

She never noticed Loki in a chair in the corner, or that he'd been watching her the entire time.

* * *

Several months after he'd started participating in meals and group activities such as TV watching, Loki locked himself in his room again after one particular day.

It had started off well enough, with him and Tony watching cartoons. Out of all of them, he spent the most time with Tony.

Tony had fallen asleep and his head had somehow managed to land itself in Loki's lap. Loki, not even thinking about it, started sifting his fingers through Tony's hair, massaging the inventor's scalp with his long fingernails.

This is what he'd do when they'd—when Loki first came to Midgard. Tony would fall asleep, and Loki would play with his hair.

Once Loki realized what he was doing, he stopped.

"Why'd you stop?" Tony mumbled, eyes shut. "Felt good."

"Forgive me," Loki mumbled. "Old Habit."

Tony half-smiled, eyes still closed. "Funny—s'an old habit of someone I knew."

Loki didn't comment.

"You remind me of her, come to think of it," Tony continued, not bothering to move his head. "Sarcastic and snide, with one hell of a mean streak."

That was too much for the God; Loki shoved Tony away from him and ran to his room.

Tony sat on the floor, confused. "Wow, talk about mood swings," he muttered, and got back up on the couch.

Loki didn't come out for a week, and when he did he was just as cold as when he'd first emerged.

* * *

**A/N: **This is what happens when I try writing romance—I plan for it one way and the plot goes in the opposite direction.


	8. Chapter 8

**The last chapter was kind of short, so here's a longer one to make up for it.**

* * *

"Are you kidding?" Erika muttered when Loki first re-locked himself in his room. All that progress, down the drain, especially when she saw how he closed himself off again. The last person to see him in a good mood had been her dad—they'd been watching cartoons.

"What did you say to him?" Erika wanted to know.

Tony shrugged. "Y'know, I honestly can't remember—it wasn't that big a deal, whatever it was."

"Well apparently it was to him," she said.

Tony crossed his arms. "And you're interested in this because . . . ?"

"Really?" Erika huffed. "You need to ask? Okay, how's this—we're playing house to a guy that had the potential for magic—"

"Science we haven't figured out yet," Tony interjected.

"—and if we get him to be a good boy, he gets that magic back, and he's on our side now so that can help you guys out. Now, though, it's like staring from scratch, and we don't have time for that!" She realized too late what she'd said.

Tony held up a hand. "Wait, go back—what do you mean, 'we don't have time?'"

"What she means, Man of Iron, is that there's a war coming, and you'll need all the help you can get."

Erika spun around and a huge smile split her face.

"Jor!"

Erika ran to the tall dark-haired man in leather and hugged him. "Holy crap, you're actually here!"

Jormungand smirked and ran long fingers through her hair, his long nails catching a few strands. "But of course, Little Sister—we've got a war to prepare for."

Tony was really confused. "Okay, two questions—one, who the hell are you, and two, how the hell did you get in here?" he demanded.

Jormungand grinned, revealing sharp teeth. Tony blanched and took a step back. "Easy—magic runs in my blood, and teleportation is a handy trick of mine." He bowed low. "Jormungand Lokison, at your service. I greatly advise you to assemble the Avengeres—I come bearing news of the greatest importance."

* * *

Tony called the Avengers together, and of course all of them were suspicious of the six foot one Loki clone in green and silver Asgardian attire (sure he was a little taller, the facial features a little different and the hair up in a ponytail was a little longer, but other than that he and Loki could be twins). Thor was the only one who knew him, and he didn't look pleased.

"Why have you come here, Nephew?" he demanded. "You are forbidden from leaving Midgard's oceans, by decree of the Allfather!"

Jormungand sneered at him. "Hello to you, too, Uncle. Believe it or not, I've got a few tricks up my sleeve that even your precious Allfather couldn't dream of."

Thor made what sounded like a snarl and took a step forward, but Steve and Tony put a hand on his arm.

"Easy, Big Guy," said Tony. "You obviously know this guy—mind sharing with the rest of the class?"

Thor let out a heavy snort. "This serpent is the son of my brother and the Frost Giantess Angrboda. The Allfather decreed him a threat and banished him to your realm's oceans, cursed to bite his own tail until Ragnarok.

"Tail?" Tony asked.

Jormungand gestured with his hands. "And yet here we are, with no Ragnarok in sight. As I said before, Uncle, I know tricks beyond your Allfather's comprehension."

Tony stepped between the two Asgardians and held up his hands. "Ok, great, you do magic tricks—why the hell did you do an appearing act _in my living room?'_" A beat, and then, "And what did you mean by 'biting his own tail?'"

Jormungand's smirk vanished. "So long as my father is here, Midgard is threatened. Wherever he goes, he will be followed."

"By who?"

Jormungand focused his green eyes on Tony. "Why don't you ask him yourself?"

* * *

"I don't recall giving you permission to enter," Loki bit out as Tony barged into his room.

"Yeah? Well I don't recall you ever mentioning a son that likes to show up and leave cryptic messages."

Loki put down the book he'd been reading. "What in the Nine Realms are you talking about, Stark?"

Tony motioned for Loki to leave the room. "Ask your son Jormu-jormumgam-fuck, I don't know how it's pronounced!"

Loki was on his feet and in front of Stark before the mortal could blink. "Jormungand? _Here?"_ Before Tony could respond, Loki was out the door.

Like Thor said, Jormungand had been banished to Earth's oceans, so it was a little bit of a shock for Loki to find out that his second eldest was just downstairs.

"By the Nine, how did you get here?"

Jormungand bowed his head a fraction. "Father," he greeted. "As you once taught us, there are ways around the Allfather's laws."

Were it not for the others in the room, Loki would have hugged his son—he had not seen Jormungand since he was a boy.

He had not seen _any_ of his children past childhood, save Hela, who he had been allowed to visit occasionally.

Jormungand cleared his throat. "Father, I believe you're familiar with the Chitauri and their leader."

Loki stiffened. "What of them?"

Jormungand glanced towards the Avengers—no, not the Avengers; towards his—towards Stark's daughter. "It has come to my attention that the Mad Titan is upset about losing the Tesseract, and that he is planning another invasion."

Steve's jaw tightened. "How do you know they're planning another attack?" he asked suspiciously.

Jormungand's head tilted. "Do you doubt my word, dear Captain?" he asked in what was meant to be a reassuring tone. "I have nothing to gain by lying to you—know that, and know that I speak only truth."

"No offense, Bean Pole, but we're not exactly inclined to trust a guy who just poofs in here and tells us we've got trouble, especially since lying probably runs in the family," Tony said before Steve could reply.

Jormungand's head whipped to the other side faster than humanly possible and pinned Tony with his poisonous green eyes, which seemed to be glowing a bit. "My source has been . . . . reliable." His gaze flickered to Erika, who was sitting by the breakfast bar out of the way. "I do not doubt her word that there will be trouble—that is why I came to you." He looked back at Loki. "I also came because I was informed of your arrival on Midgard; I wished to see you."

Loki swallowed.

Sensing an awkward family moment, Erika decided to interrupt. "Okay, so you guys gonna kick some alien ass or what?" She hopped off the stool and stood beside Jormungand, who knelt in front of Loki.

"I would gladly fight with you and your allies, if you would allow it," he said.

"Wait, I thought his powers got taken away," Clint spoke up for the first time.

Both Loki and Jormungand gave him a funny look. "Magic is not the only way to fight a battle, as you mortals surely know," Loki said cryptically.

Silence fell over the room, then Tony did what he did best—he opened his mouth and tried to diffuse the tension in the room. "Well, Reindeer Games, you can count me in."

Loki gave him a surprised glance. "Truly?" he asked, a hint of venom in his voice. "After all I've done to you?" His eyes widened and his mouth snapped shut.

Tony clicked his tongue. "Believe me, it's not the first time I was tossed out of a window and it probably won't be the last." He smirked. "What can I say? I'm a rebel."

* * *

Jormungand estimated that they had about a month, so the beginnings of a plan were constructed. The plan was simple—gather as much firepower in an unpopulated area as they could and attract the alien army's attention to lure them there, then proceed to kick alien ass. Calls were made to Director Fury, who in turn made calls to the Army, Navy, and National Guard.

Tony got to work on something that would act as a beacon to the aliens, and he also began working on something for Loki to use during the battle to come.

"You would trust me with such weaponry?" Loki had asked. "Why?"

Tony had shrugged. "Why not?" he'd answered, and then gotten to work. Later, as he was coming out of his workshop, he paused by the penthouse's main living room.

Erika was still awake and was talking to Loki's son.

"—will you fight without any magic?" Jormungand (hey, he got it right) was saying. "All you need to do is get him to reverse whatever spell he cast, and then your magic will be available."

Erika huffed and crossed her arms. "You said it yourself, Jor—there's more than one way to fight a battle. I know martial arts, I'm trained to use a gun, and I'll be fine."

"Yes, but your chances will be even greater _with_ magic."

"I know that," she sighed. "I know, but he's still denying everything. I've asked him again and again to take back whatever he did, but he's just laughed at me and told him to stop saying stupid things." She shook her head. "I don't know what to do—I want to remember him; I want _both of us_ to remember him, but it's not like I can just go up to Dad and say "Hey, Dad, I've got half-siblings who are straight out of Norse legends! Oh, and by the way—Loki's a shapeshifter and my biological mother, and he fucked with our memories!" She flopped down on the couch. "Yeah, that would go over great."

Tony was frozen where he stood and stayed there long after Erika went to bed. When he finally rounded the corner, Jormungand was in front of him.

"Eavesdropping is rude," he said, clearly amused. "How does it feel, little mortal, to know the truth?"

Tony only glared at the taller man. "I don't know what kind of crap you're feeding my daughter, but you stay away from her." He brushed past Jormungand and headed upstairs.

"If you don't believe it, ask him yourself—he'll have a harder time lying to you, I'm sure of it."

Tony ignored Jormungand's words and went to bed.

The next day, Tony couldn't stop thinking about what Loki's son had said.

"_How does it feel, little mortal, to know the truth?"_

He'd obviously lied to Erika and fed her some bullshit story—Erika's mother was dead and gone, had been for almost twenty years. Her name was Lorna Aven, she'd been a supermodel, she was six foot with long dark hair, a twisted sense of humor and the most intense green eyes Tony had ever seen.

Tony scolded himself for even considering it—he'd had Lorna and losing her had damaged him. He'd worked for years to get over her properly and fix the rift her death had caused between him and Erika.

And now—now this kid comes along and says it was all a lie . . . .

There was only one way to find out.

"What now, Stark?" Loki asked when Tony went to his room.

Tony closed the door and crossed his arms. "Oh, nothing, just wanted to talk. That kid of yours is a piece of work."

Loki snorted. "You came up here to talk to me about my son."

"Yeah, actually."

Loki looked unimpressed. "Go on, then," he said in a bored tone.

Tony uncrossed his arms then crossed them again. "I heard him talking to Erika—my daughter—and he seemed to thing that he was her half-brother. Any ideas why?" he asked.

The tensing of Loki's shoulders was almost imperceptible, but Tony caught it. "No idea," said Loki, and Tony clenched his jaw.

"You're lying."

"_You're lying_."

Loki snorted. "How can you be sure, Stark?"

_Lorna smirked. "How can you be sure, love?"_

_Tony smirked right back and pulled her down for a quick kiss. "I can always tell when you're lying."_

"_Oh really? How?"_

_Tony rubbed her shoulders. "Your shoulders tense, your jaw tightens, and you blink about one too many times."_

It was a stab in the dark, but Tony took it. "Your shoulders are tense, you're clenching your jaw, and you're blinking about one too many times."

Loki's smirk widened into a grin. "So sure of yourself, are you?" he got out of the chair and stalked towards Tony, who fought the urge to back up.

"_Sure of yourself, aren't you?" She asked, her smirk widening into a grin._

"_Yup"_

"Yup."

Loki was a breath away now, staring down at Tony like he was a little mouse caught in a trap. "And what will you do, I wonder, if I am lying?

"_What will you do if I'm lying?"_

"_Well, I'll have to punish you, of course," He caught her mouth in a searing kiss and steered her back towards the bed._

Tony didn't think twice about it—he stood on his toes and kissed Loki, who stiffened and raised his hands, ready to pull away.

He didn't, though. Instead, he tangled his hands in Tony's hair and pulled him closer. He opened his mouth to Tony's tongue and answered with his own, claiming the shorter man's mouth as thoroughly as his was being claimed.

Tony pulled away first and his eyes widened. "I have no idea why I just did that," he said breathlessly, looking around to make sure there were no windows for Loki to throw him out of.

"I do," Loki said quietly, just as breathless, and he ducked his head for another kiss.

* * *

**A/N: **I'm not comfortable writing full-on sex scenes, so this is all you're getting from me. Use your imaginations.

Also, yay for a non-dream Jormungand! I hope I did him justice.


	9. Chapter 9

**This is just a quick chapter to summarize Loki and Tony's relationship pre-Avengers and Iron Man. I might go a little further into detail later on, maybe as Tony regaining his memories. Maybe.**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

Twenty five years ago, Loki came to Earth, bored of Asgard's stagnant ways of life. One fateful night, in the summer of 1987, he met a seventeen year old Tony Stark, heir to Stark Industries. He was attending one of Howard Stark's charity galas under the guise of a young woman, a foreign supermodel, looking to make connections in America. Young Tony took a shine to her immediately, and offered to buy her a drink.

Lorna, as she was called, was amused, and allowed the young man to buy her a drink. She talked with him all night, switching between English and Swedish, pretending to have a hard time understanding him and his intentions toward her. At the end of the night, she bid him farewell and handed him a card with her name and the name of the modeling agency she worked for.

She wasn't surprised at all when he showed up at her agency the next day during a photo shoot.

From that point on, they made a habit of seeing each other when their schedules allowed it. Two weeks after the gala, they were dating, and everyone said it wouldn't last. Two years later they were excepting a child—a little girl.

Halfway through Lorna's pregnancy, she told Tony the truth—the truth about her and where she was from, and that Lorna Aven didn't exist. He didn't believe her at first, but eventually she managed to convince him.

That was their first major fight, and it lasted the rest of the pregnancy. Their child's birth was difficult, and Tony was so afraid that he would lose his new family that he forgot his anger. He sat beside her while she recovered, and he watched his daughter in the hospital's nursery.

Erika Maria Stark was born on April 4, 1990, and she was so little; the doctors said it was a miracle she survived.

Lorna was tired, and she and the baby stayed in the hospital for almost a week.

Once they were both deemed healthy enough to leave, Tony wasted no time getting his family home. He apologized to Lorna for getting so angry and asked her to show him.

She refused until after Erika was a year old, then she showed him who she truly was—not Lorna Aven, but Loki Odinson. Loki explained why he'd had to hide his life on Earth, and why he'd lied to Tony for so long—it was a difficult task for the God of Lies to be truthful, after all, and being truthful to Tony meant he trusted the man, more than he trusted anyone on Asgard. His father and brother loved him, but they had wronged him too many times for him to trust them completely.

He trusted Tony, though—enough to tell him about his life on Asgard as a prince and younger brother to Thor, God of Thunder, and about why he'd been hesitant to having a baby; it was the same reason he'd hidden Erika as soon as she was born—he'd lost so many children, he wasn't about to lose another.

That night Tony held Loki and told the god that as long as Loki stayed there, with Tony and their daughter, he was safe. There, on Earth, he was safe, and he could have the life that had been denied him too many times. Tony promised that Loki would see Erika grow up and would never have to leave her.

Neither of them knew that this was a lie, and that Loki only had a few more precious years with his family before he would be forced to leave them. He would never see Erika ride her first bike, or go to school for the first time. He would miss her entire life, but he had no way of knowing this, so for the moment he believed the lie—that he had a family, and not even the Allfather himself could take that away from him.

* * *

**A/N:** It's late and I'm tired, so I think I'll go to bed now. Fear not, dear readers, for I shall begin the next chapter tomorrow and hopefully have it posted by tomorrow night

And with that, I bid you all Good Night.


	10. Chapter 10

**Tony Stark and Loki belong to Marvel, Jormungand and Hela belong to whoever wrote the myths, and Erika belongs to me.**

Tony lay in bed, his brain moving a million miles a second. Loki lay beside him, dead to the world, so to speak—it might not be the right euphemism to use, especially after listening to what Loki had to say.

Tony still thought about that day—about waking up next to Lorna, thinking she was still asleep, then finding out she was gone. Gone, but not dead, it turns out—just in a different body and on another planet. Realm. Whatever.

It was almost too much for him to handle, and he was close to doubting the God of Lies; or he would be, anyway, except that he would have know if Loki was lying.

Apparently, he'd always been able to tell. Not Loki's parents, not Thor or his friends—just him. Plus, Thor told them that for right now, Loki couldn't work his 'God of Lies' mojo.

After that kiss, they'd just talked. That was it. Loki sat on the bed, his back to the headboard, and Tony put his head in Loki's lap. They stayed there and Loki played with Tony's hair while telling him about Asgard, and how it never changes. About how he'd gotten bored and had come to earth, and how they'd met.

Tony believed him then, because it was the first memory of Lorna he had, and if Loki had the same memory .. . . .

Well, it wasn't hard to connect the dots.

After he finished talking, Loki just sat there. Waiting.

"Can you give them back?" Tony had asked, referring to his memories.

Loki had shaken his head, though Tony couldn't see it. "No," he had replied. "My magic is gone—I cannot reverse what I did, even if I wanted to."

Tony had craned his neck back to look at the god. "Do you? Want to to, that is."

That time Tony saw his reaction. He had nodded. "There is nothing that would give me greater pleasure."

Tony had sat up and kissed him. "Well, all you have to do is be a good little boy and prove to Daddy that you're worthy to get that back, right? What's so hard about that?"

Loki had stared at him funny, then. "Thor had to almost die before he was deemed worthy, and I am not at all willing to sacrifice my life just yet. No offense."

"None taken."

Loki asked about Tony's arc reactor, but Tony didn't really feel like reliving hit transition into Iron Man, so he promised he'd tell Loki about it later.

They had lain down then, with Tony mentioning something about running tests for armor in the morning. He was having a hard time sleeping, though, with all this new information. He supposed that for now, it did no good to worry about it, and he forced himself to fall asleep.

"Got any threes?"

"Go fish."

"Damn." Erika pulled a card from the top of the deck between her and Jormungand, who looked bored.

"When is there a winner?" he asked, stifling a yawn. "This game bores me."

Erika huffed out a low breath and looked around. "We could always play Xbox instead."

Jormungand tilted his head. "Ex Box?"

Erika made up her mind and put her cards back in the pile. "Yeah, I know for a fact Dad has all kinds of games." She gathered the cards and put them back in their box, then stood up and went to turn on the TV and Xbox. "Okay, we've got Call of Duty, Asassin's Creed, I think Dad downloaded Minecraft . . . . Just Dance, Just Dance 2 . . . . Ooh! This one!" She pulled out a game and loaded it in the disk dispenser.

Jormungand picked up the cover and examined it—a dirty looking little girl with a needle was standing next to what looked like a diving suit with a drill on one arm. The word "BIOSHOCK" was written across the top of a water rusted piece of metal with city engravings on the bottom edge.

"Bioshock?"

Erika handed him the controller. "You'll love it."

"Shoot him! He's right there, shoot him!"

"I am trying, but he keeps moving!"

"A-Doy, that's the point! He's behind you, use incinerate!"

"What?"

"The plasmid! Shoot him with fire! The thing that lets you incinerate people!"

Tony had a relatively short list of things that could still surprise him, but walking in on Erika screaming instructions while Loki's son—a legendary serpent who was supposedly big enough to encircle the earth—played video games was one of them.

"It's too early for this," Tony mumbled, shuffling towards the kitchen for coffee.

"Morning, Daddy!" Erika called.

Tony mumbled a reply.

Erika was up on her knees, watching him from over the couch. "Daddy, I have a question."

"Hn?"

"Having Jor here isn't too much trouble, right?"

"Nh-hn."

"So . . . would it bother you if I had a few more people over?"

"Nh-hn."

"Okay, I'm taking that as a yes." With that, she flopped back down on the couch.

A huff from Jormungand, then, "She's going to give him a heart attack, you know."

Erika waved him off. "Nah, he'll be fine. Besides, all will be forgiven when he tastes her French toast—that chick can _cook_."

The sound of a coffee mug smashing against the kitchen tiles was heard, followed by Tony's cry of "Jesus Fucking Christ!"

Erika cringed. "Well, better than a heart attack.

Jormungand sniggered and continued his game.

Erika was right; once Tony had a bite of Hela's French toast, all was forgiven. He instructed Jarvis to save the recipe for further use, to which Erika pointed out he wouldn't even be able to cook it.

"Mine is a special recipe, known to none but me," said Hela, placing a plate in front of Jormungand. "Eat, Brother—you look like you have not been eating well."

Jormungand huffed but took a small bite.

"So," Tony said after a moment of silence. "You are . . . . ?"

"Hela Lokadottir, daughter of the Frost Giantess Angrboda and Asgardian mage Loki, queen of Niflheim, realm of the dead." Hela gave Tony a small curtsy. "As you can see, living among the dead has taken its toll on my complexion."

"No kidding," Tony mumbled. "Jarvis, what've you got for me?"

"_Scans show only 50% living tissue, sir; there is no scientific explanation that I can find."_

Tony whistled. "See, if Jarvis can't explain you, you're something special."

Both Hela and Jormungand frowned and looked up at the ceiling. "Who was speaking?" Jormungand asked. He stood up hastily.

Tony raised his hands. "Easy, Bean Pole—it's just Jarvis."

"Just A Very Intelligent System," Erika said around a mouthful of French toast. "He's just a computer, Jor, sit back down."

Jormungand didn't move.

"For Christ's sake, Jormungand, sit your butt down and finish your food."

Jormungand mumbled something about doing what he wanted but sat down anyway. His suspiciousness was replaced with humor when the human know as Hawkeye wandered in and took a carton of milk from the fridge. He drank right from the carton and choked when he finally noticed Hela. She smiled and waved and he waved back, clearly unsettled. "Stark, what the hell is going on?" He asked through clenched teeth.

Tony motioned from Hela to Hawkeye. "Hela, Clint. Clint, Hela."

"That doesn't explain anything."

"Yeah, I know."

**A/N: **I really tried to come up with a better way to end this chapter, but after so many re-writes this was the best I could do.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: Loki, The Other, and all other Marvel characters belong to Marvel (duh). Jormungand and Hela belong to Norse Mythology, and Erika is mine.**

**Sorry for the delay between chapters, inspiration has been a cold heartless bitch.**

**Big thanks to Sperky7220 for being my sort-of beta reader, who usually doesn't have enough time to check my work because of college. She was able to look over the early draft of this chapter and give me a little feedback. Thank you Estrella-wa!**

* * *

First Jormungand, then Hela—now all that was missing were Fenrir and Sleipnir. Loki had no idea how his two younger children had escaped their banishment, but he was certain his eldest and second-youngest would not be so fortunate; after all, one was bound by unbreakable chains, and the other was cursed to forever be Odin's mighty steed.

"We can free them," Jormungand insisted. "Hela and I—our magic combined could free them!"

"Don't you think I've already tried?" Loki asked tiredly, leaning back on Stark's—Tony's—couch. "With my magic, I could not free any of you."

"I know where Fenrir is," Erika spoke up. "According to Jor, all I need for my magic to unlock is my memories—the ones you took from me. If I get those back, then maybe all three of us would be enough to—"

"No!" Loki interrupted. Somehow, locking her memories has allowed her to evade the Allfather's notice—even now, the remnants of the spells Loki cast were diverting Heimdall's attention, urging him not to notice Erika. Breaking those spells would draw his attention to her, and then the Allfather would know of her existence. Loki did not even wish to think what punishment would befall Erika, just for being his child.

Erika stood up. "I'm not a little girl anymore," she insisted. "I can take care of myself—plus I have Earth's Mightiest Heroes to protect me!" She paused. "I know you can't reverse it, but Jor or Hela could—just tell them how."

Loki still refused.

He did not, however, realize just how stubborn his and Tony's child could be.

* * *

"We should not be here," Hela murmured as she and Erika rummaged through Loki's rooms on Asgard (and how cool was it that Erika could physically travel to Asgard?).

"Is your concealment spell hiding us?"

"Well, yes, but—"

"Then we've got nothing to worry about." She picked up another book. "It's so weird—these are all in different languages, but it's like my brain rearranges the words into English."

"That would be the Allspeak," said Jormungand, descending from an upper level of the rooms with a book in his hand. "Any and all know languages are known to you, thanks to your heritage."

"Well, that explains why I did so well in Spanish class," Erika muttered. She glanced at the book he held. "Is that it?"

Jormungand nodded.

Erika grinned. "Awesome."

* * *

"Does it _have_ to be _blood? __**My**_ blood?"

"Yours and your father's, yes."

"Ew."

* * *

Getting a sample of her own blood was a cinch. Getting a sample of her dad's blood, however, was a different story, and involved sneaking into Dr. Banner's medical lab, where she knew he'd have blood of everyone living in Stark Tower.

She got the blood and got out, just barely avoiding running into the doctor, which she was thankful for—sneaking around in his lab might just get him mad enough for the Other Guy to make an appearance, and she really didn't want that.

* * *

Loki could feel the build of magic in the air, but did not know what it was until several days after, when he was in Tony's lab. Tony had made him new armor and given it a green and gold paint job. He'd even made Loki a leather holster for his throwing knives.

Loki didn't remember ever telling Tony he used knives, and he said as much.

"Really? I could've sworn you said something about it."

Loki shook his head. "I do not share that information lightly."

Tony let out a small 'huh,' then shrugged it off. "Lucky guess, then."

A few minutes later, both of them froze, the same memory rising to the surface in both their minds.

"_Uh, Babe? What's with the letter opener?" Tony asked while watching Loki polish a dagger._

_Loki held the dagger between his fingertips and grinned. "It's always nice to have a back-up plan, and they do hold a nice element of surprise."_

_Tony flopped back down in the chair across from Loki. "Is Kiddo safe with those in the house?" he asked, concerned, not for the first time, for their daughter's safety._

_Loki scoffed. "Do you think me so foolish, to have something that would harm one of my own?"_

_Tony frowned. "Good point." A beat of silence, then, "So. Daggers. Kinda sneaky for a noble warrior of Asgard."_

_Loki's grin was wolfish. "I am many things, Stark, but noble is not one of them. Thor and the Warriors Three have often compared my knife throwing and illusions as 'simple tricks,' and have often accused me of being a coward." His grin widened. "They are often silenced once they have said knife held to their throats."_

_Tony chuckled. "God, I love you."_

"_The feeling is mutual."_

_Erika started crying then, and Loki put down his dagger to go check on her._

Tony was the first to snap back to the present. "Whoa," he muttered, looking like he was seeing Loki for the first time. "Just—whoa." He swallowed. "What the hell was that?"

Loki sighed angrily and massaged the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. "That, Stark, was our stubborn daughter doing exactly what I told her NOT to do."

"Yeah? What else is new?"

That stupid girl had done the exact opposite of what Loki had told her to do. He'd ordered her to let it be, and now . . . now, who knew what would happen?

* * *

It hadn't worked.

At least, it hadn't done what Erika had thought. Her memories were still fuzzy at best, and there was only the barest hint of a memory that could suggest that Loki was her mother.

Jormungand had suggested that unlocking her memories was the key to unlocking her magic, but it had been three days since they cast the spell and Erika was still the same—still mortal and without magic.

"It was worth a try," Hela told her, trying to console her.

"Like you said before, magic isn't everything," Jormungand added.

Erika hadn't really known what to expect, but she'd gotten her hopes up that maybe there was something in her—something magical, like the rest of her family. She was still a genius, though, just like Tony, and for now that would have to be enough.

Erika had expected Loki to be upset with her for disobeying him, but he never said a word.

* * *

"_Who is this little one that comes to us?" something growled into her ear, its voice low and gravelly. "You reek of humanity."_

_Erika didn't dare turn around—she didn't have to. Whoever spoke circled around her and she was at a loss for words. It—he was clearly Chitauri, but more evolved._

_The Other, then (Loki had told them everything eh could of the alien army, including its leader and the Mad Titan—Erika hoped never to face him)._

"_How has such a little human managed to find their way here, I wonder?" he continued, and paused. "I see into your mind—you are mortal, but also of Asgard. You belong to that wretch who failed us."_

_Loki._

"_Know this, girl—we meant what we said; there is no place for him to hide from us. We will come, and Midgard will fall, and not even your armies can stop us."_

Erica jolted awake, sweat beading her forehead.

"Crap."

* * *

**A/N: **My beta reader said Loki was too squishy and soft in the earliest draft of this chapter, so I hope I changed it well enough. He's still a squishy marshmallow inside, but now hopefully he's not broadcasting it for everyone to see.

I'm so excited—I know exactly how I want this to end, and I'm trying my best to keep this at a believable pace and get to where I want to go. There's still a long way to go until the end, though, so bear with me.

Thank you to everyone who's favorited, followed, or reviewed this story. Your support and feedback means so much


	12. Chapter 12

**Sorry for the delay, I haven't really felt like writing lately.**

**Tony and Loki belong to Marvel**

* * *

Their month was almost up, and Tony had a surprise for Loki. He brought him down to the workshop and handed him a metal staff about half as tall as Loki with a grip on the end.

"All you gotta do is twist the handle," he said

Loki did so, and the metal bar was suddenly crackling with glowing green electricity.

"That should cut through just about anything, so don't go dismembering yourself."

Loki studied the staff, moving it left and right and almost slicing a table in half.

"Whoa, easy Obi-Wan!" Tony called, motioning for Loki to twist the handle again. He did so and the green static dispersed.

Neither one of them noticed Erika until she said, "No Way! You built him a _light saber_?"

Tony grinned. "I though it would be fitting, and in case you're wondering, yes, I did think about making it red. He's a Jedi now, though, not a sith lord, so I felt green was appropriate."

"Yeah, okay, but _you made a light saber. _A freaking light saber! And it _works!_"

"I do not understand this conversation," Loki said.

"I thought you'd seen Star Wars," said Tony, and Loki shook his head. "Okay, we're going to fix that as soon as this 'invading army' crap is over."

Erika looked at the staff in Loki's had. "Can I have one?" she asked hopefully.

"No," both Tony and Loki said at the same time, and Erika pouted.

* * *

"So, when are you going to tell the rest of the team?" Erika asked when it was just her and Tony in the kitchen.

"About what?" Tony asked, eating a spoonful of coco puffs.

"About you and Mom," Erika said, and then crunched down on a bite of fruit loops (she ate her cereal dry, because milk was disgusting). She chewed and swallowed, and then added, "And I'm still not used to calling a guy 'Mom.'"

Tony sighed. "We talked about it—"

"Whoa, so you _can_ talk about important emotional crap?"

"Ha ha, very funny," he said dryly. "As I was saying, we talked about it and figured it was better to keep that part of it out. At least, give them a little longer to get used to him, then maybe, if the timing works out . . . ." Tony shrugged. "Who knows?"

Erika bit her lower lip. "Alright, so I'm assuming you want me to keep the whole 'Jormungand and Hela are my siblings' thing a secret, too?"

"You assume correctly."

They fell into silence, the only sound coming from Erika eating her cereal. The silence was broken when Erika put down her spoon and said, "I still can't remember him very well. It gets clearer every day, but my clearest memory is still the day of the funeral."

Tony sighed. This was _so_ not a conversation he wanted to have at the moment, but he was trying to earn 'good parent' points and actually talk to her about important things. "Look, Kiddo, I don't know if you'll ever—if your memories will . . . ." he trailed off and sighed tiredly. Fuck, this was hard.

"You don't think I'll ever remember him clearly," Erika finished. "Because of how young I was."

Tony nodded hopelessly.

Erika poked at her cereal, suddenly not feeling very hungry. "Do _you_ remember him?"

"Yeah," was all he said, because he didn't know how to tell his daughter that the Loki that was with them now wasn't the same Loki he'd known all those years ago, that this wasn't _his_ Loki. His Loki was prideful and arrogant, yes, but also understanding and compassionate. His Loki liked the odd cruel joke now and again, but nothing harmful.

His Loki's eyes were the brightest Tony had ever seen, but those same eyes were now cold and dark, and full of hate.

Loki was different, but Tony didn't know how to put his thoughts into words, so he stayed silent.

* * *

"Jarvis, where's our resident psychopathic god wandered off to?" Tony asked his AI later that day.

"_Master Odinson is currently in the training room, Sir,"_ Jarvis reported.

"Thanks a bunch, Jar-Jar," said Tony, changing directions and heading for the elevator that would take him to the training room.

"_I wouldn't recommend going down there, sir—Master Odinson seems to be in an unpleasant mood," _Jarvis warned.

Tony waved the AI's warning off. "Relax, Jarvis, I've dealt with His Royal Moodiness enough to know what to expect."

"_. . . . . Very well, Sir."_

The elevator dinged and Tony stepped into the small enclosure, whistling as he went. His whistling trailed off when the elevator doors opened and he was met with a sight that was . . . well, it was really disturbing, actually. Scattered across the floor were various parts of practice dummies, and standing in the middle of the chaos were six practice dummies all in a neat row.

The disturbing part? Those last six dummies were dressed as the six members of the Avengers.

Tony watched wide-eyed as Loki's throwing knives were embedded in dummy-Thor's head, dummy-Natasha's belly, and dummy-Hawkeyes arms. He brought out the staff Tony had made him and turned on the power before using it to hack the dummies to pieces.

Tony winced as dummy-Tony's head rolled across the floor. He gulped and clutched his own neck.

"New training exercise?" he asked hesitantly, and yelped in surprise when a dagger embedded itself in the wall mere centimeters away from his head. "Whoa, easy there Rambo!" he exclaimed, edging away from the knife.

He wasn't quick enough, though, and Loki was suddenly across the room and had him pinned to the wall.

"What the hell are you doing?" Tony asked, panic making his voice rise—Loki was without magic, but he was still strong enough to snap someone's neck (which, according to Thor, should have been impossible—Loki's strength should have vanished along with his magic).

Loki said nothing, only stared at him with hatred burning in his eyes.

"Seriously, calm the fuck down and tell me what the fuck is wrong!"

Loki slammed him against the wall. "You wish to know what is wrong?" He asked, his voice on the verge of being a growl. "Very Well, Stark, I will tell you—what is wrong, is that I am stuck here, on a useless excuse of a planet, with none of my magic. I am surrounded by and forced to live with the very people who took great pleasure in beating me into the ground, and now I have the Mad Titan's forces after me, with only Midgard's sad excuse for a military for protection! And, to top it all off, you pathetic mortals have dragged my children into a war that they cannot hope to win! Now tell me, Man of Iron, does that answer your question as to _what is wrong_?!"

Tony tried putting his hands on Loki's arms, but the god snarled at him and slammed him into the wall again. "Touch me again and I'll crack your skull against the concrete!" Loki spat.

Tony swallowed and forced himself to breathe evenly. "Babe, just calm down—"

"Enough of your demeaning pet names, Stark!"

Okay, new plan—approach the subject slowly and try to find a calm, peaceful solution.

"What the _fuck_ is wrong with you?!"

Or not.

"Were you not listening, Or are you just too stupid to remember what I just told you?" Loki snarled. "I'm on an alien planet, practically defenseless, surrounded by enemies—what part of that did you not understand?"

"Yeah, you're pissed about the no magic thing, I get that," Tony said back, starting to get angry. "Seriously, though, are you just now realizing this? When you've been here for, what, six months? You seemed okay with everything yesterday—what, you just suddenly decided to go berserk?"

Tony's tirade was cut off with another slam against the wall, and his head knocked against concrete hard enough to make his vision swim.

Loki dropped him and spat at his feet. "You're pathetic," he spat. "I cannot for the life of me understand why I _ever_ allowed you to come near me, let alone bed me. You are weak, you and that stupid, shallow girl!" He glared at Tony as if he was the dirt under Loki's boots.

"Hey, that 'shallow girl' is my daughter!" Tony rasped, his own anger starting to boil. "She's yours too, or did you forget?"

Loki sneered. "I want nothing to do with that pathetic child, and I have no more patience for you either one of you!'" He spat, and before Tony could reply he let the training room.

Tony sat there and tried to calm himself down. He was trying to make sense of what just happened, and he had three theories. Theory number one—Loki's docile state had been caused by shock or fatigue, maybe from going from Prison on Asgard to living in Stark Tower, and now he was only just realizing his situation. Theory number two—Loki had been pissed all along but managed to keep a lid on it, but the lid finally blew and it all came spewing out. Theory number three—and this one wasn't very likely—Loki had grown used to living at the tower and was trying to drive a wedge between him and the towers residents, so that when Thanos came he only would come for Loki.

Theory one was good, but unlikely, and theory three had Tony convinced he'd been watching too many movies. So, theory two it was.

Now the only question was, how does one calm an angered god?

* * *

_I am stuck here, on a useless excuse of a planet, with none of my magic_.

Truth; He was stuck on Midgard, with no magic and only half his strength, with no hope of ever being free again.

_I am surrounded by and forced to live with the very people who took great pleasure in beating me into the ground._

Truth; hadn't that been the plan, though? Hadn't he hoped that "Earth's Mightiest Heroes" would stop the invasion?

_Now I have the Mad Titan's forces after me, with only Midgard's sad excuse for a military for protection_!

Truth; Better than no protection, though, and he should count himself lucky that they were willing to go up against Thanos, even if it was solely for the protection of their planet.

_And, to top it all off, you pathetic mortals have dragged my children into a war that they cannot hope to win!_

Truth; If it weren't for these events, his son would still be in the ocean and his daughter in the Realm of the Dead. If nothing else, though, he was glad to see Jormungand again.

_You're pathetic_

Lie.

_I cannot for the life of me understand why I ever allowed you to come near me, let alone bed me._

Lie.

_You are weak, you and that stupid, shallow girl!_

Lie.

_I want nothing to do with that pathetic child, and I have no more patience for you either one of you!_

Lie, lie, lie. All of it lies. They were the best thing—the only good thing—about his current situation. They were his family, and he'd be damned if he dragged them into his fight.

* * *

**A/N:** For Loki's staff, imagine the shock sticks that the Lieutenant (Mustache Guy) uses in Legend of Korra.

Loki had been through so much, and the Loki in The Avengers is obviously different from the Loki in and before Thor. I still like to believe that the old Loki is in there somewhere, and he still cares about his family.


	13. Chapter 13

**The Avengers and all other recognizable characters belong to Marvel. I can only claim Erika as mine.**

**To everyone following this story, I am so sorry about the wait between chapters. I place the blame on my friend, who got me hooked on Once Upon a Time, and all I've done for the last month or so is rewatch episodes and read OUaT fanfiction. It's an amazing show, and I definitely recommend it **

**This is a shorter chapter, but the next one will be longer. Hopefully.**

* * *

Nobody saw Loki the next day. Not Bruce, who'd been working in his lab, or Steve, who had been working on modern military strategies (which weren't that different from strategies of the 1950's). Not even Erika had seen him, and she'd been everywhere he usually was.

"I haven't seen him in a few days," she admitted, pausing in her drawing of Jormungand and Hela while they played (or tried to play) games on the Xbox. "Last I knew, he'd gone to hone his butt-kicking skills in the Training Room."

Tony didn't mention his and Loki's confrontation and the reason he was looking for the God, and he gave up and went back to his lab. It was only then that he realized something important, something he should have noticed right away.

His beacon—the beacon he'd been working on to summon the Chitauri—was gone, along with Loki's weapon.

Shit.

"Jarvis, where's Loki."

He should've asked Jarvis first, should have thought to check with the AI, should have—"

". . . . _Master Odinson's wherabouts are currently unknown, Sir."_

"And why the fuck didn't you _tell me?!_"

"_You never asked, Sir. Also, Master Odinson made it clear he did not wish for you to know."_

"And since when do you listen to him?" Tony almost shouted.

" _. . . . I'm not entirely sure, Sir."_

Tony grumbled something about rewriting Jarvis completely and got ready for a very unpleasant conversation with a very unpleasant man.

* * *

"What exactly do you mean when you say he 'took it'?" One severely pissed off Nick Fury asked Tony when given this interesting bit of news.

"I mean exactly that—the beacon's gone, and the tracer I put on him has him pegged somewhere in the Mojave Desert," Tony snapped, not at all ready to deal with the Director. "We need to follow him—we need to get every military unit we can mobilized and—"

"And what" Fury interrupted. "We mobilize out military and what? Go after a crazy Norse deity and get between him and whoever's pissed off at him?"

"We were already planning on getting between him and the Chitauri," Tony argued.

Fury crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. "Well maybe those plans have changed, Mr. Stark. Personally, I see no reason to get between Loki and whatever the hell's hunting him."

Tony stood abruptly from his seat across from the director. "You may be okay with sitting by while a defenseless man gets torn apart, but I'm not."

"Please tell me you're not thinking of doing something stupid," Fury called after him.

Tony didn't answer.

* * *

"I'm going after Loki."

"Seriously?" Clint was the first to ask. "After all that little fucker put us through? Why not let this titan dude have him?"

"I thought you were all about putting an arrow in this Big Bad dude's eyeball?" Tony bit back.

"Yeah, well maybe I changed my mind."

"I'm with you, Tony" Steve said, his heroic tone somewhat negated by his bowl of fruit salad and his 'Kiss the Cook' apron. "Loki may have been our enemy, but right now he needs our help."

"Steve's right," Bruce agreed. "The guy's brain is still a bag of cats, but we can't just abandon him."

Tony looked to Natasha, who shrugged impassively, and Clint, who still didn't look happy. "Fine," the archer bit out. "But you owe me."

"I'm going, too."

Tony turned sharply to where his daughter stood. "Uh, no, you're not, actually," he said in a 'don't argue with me' voice.

"Uh, yeah, I am," she shot back. "Dad, I can help," she insisted, and held out her palm. "Look." A small flame appeared in her hand. "I'm learning," she said proudly.

"She is a worthy student, and she is ready for combat," Jormungand said from behind her.

"Every minute we spend here is another minute too late; we need to go."

As the Avengers suited up, Erika pulled aside Jormungand and Hela. "We need to make a pit stop," she told them. "There's no way we can do this on our own."

"What do you have in mind?" Hela asked.

"She means for us to go to Asgard," said Jormungand.

Erika blinked. "It's really creepy when you do that."

Jormungand grinned.

* * *

The bifrost was too slow, so they took a direct approach.

"I cannot directly teleport us to the Great Hall, so we will need to make haste once inside the palace walls if we wish to make it to the Allfather," Jormungand warned.

Once inside the palace walls, they were met with resistance.

"We request an audience with the Allfather," said Hela, still wearing a glamour that hid the rotting side of her body.

"None may see the Allfather while he in council," One guard boomed.

"Oh, really?" Jormungand asked. "Not even his grandchildren?" He closed his eyes and a dark shadow shaped like an enormous serpent towered over the guards. Erika watched this and was struck with just how terrifying her half-brother was. The guards seemed to agree with her and let them pass.

Hela motioned for Erika to enter the Main Hall and she took a deep breath before pushing open the doors.

"Who dares disrupt the Allfather?" A powerful voice boomed.

'Okay, Erika, play it cool. You're talking to royalty here, so be polite and respectful.' Erika thought.

"That would be me," was what ended up coming out of her mouth. "There's trouble brewing on Earth—Midgard—and we need your help."

Odin Allfather stood from his throne and regarded the three of them carefully. "Jormungandr Lokison, Hela Lokadottir," he addressed Jormungand and Hela. "Not only have you violated the terms of your banishment, you dare bring a mortal into the Realm Eternal?"

"Hey, are you seriously going to just ignore what I said?" Erika asked in a louder voice.

"Silence!" Odin thundered. "You have no right to speak here, Mortal!"

"Uh, actually, I think I do!" she shot back.

"I said SILENCE!" Odin's voice shook the hall.

"NO!" Erika yelled back.

"Who are you to talk to me in such a way?" Odin growled, beyond pissed off.

Erika took a deep breath. 'Here goes nothing.' "My name is Erika Maria Stark Lokadottir. I am the daughter of Loki Odinson of Asgard and Anthony Stark of Midgard, and I have a right to be heard!"

The silence that fell was deafening.

* * *

**A/N: **Dun-Dun-Duuuuun!


	14. Chapter 14

**I'm no good at battle scenes, so this chapter might suck. It needs to be written, though, so I did my best.**

**Loki, Tony, the Avengers, the Chitauri, Odin and the Asgardians, and all other eecognizable characters belong to Marvel. Erika belongs to me, and Jormungand, Hela, Sliepnir, and Fenrir belong to whoever wrote the Norse myths.**

**I changed the summary to something a little more fitting, FYI.**

* * *

How long would it take, Loki wondered, for them to realize what he had done and where he had gone? How long before Tony realized his beacon was gone? Would he put two and two together and come after Loki, or leave him to the mercy of the Chitauri?

Steeling his nerves, Loki activated the beacon and readied himself for the worst.

He did not have to wait long.

A portal ripped through the sky and hundreds of Chitauri swarmed towards him. He twisted the handle of his weapon and readied himself.

Fighting off the Chitauri whilst evading their energy blasts was not an easy task, and Loki found that they were doing far more damage to him than he was to them. One particularly large Chitauri soldier rushed him and would have gutted him like a fish, but had dropped dead, an arrow stuck between its eyes. The Chitauri were unable to get to him, banging on an energy force field.

"That won't hold them forever."

Loki turned and his throat went dry. "Jormungand."

Jormungand bowed slightly. "Did you really believe we would abandon you?"

Loki blinked. "We?"

A Chitauri soldier broke through the barrier and was knocked back by a blast of energy.

"Nice try, Ugly," Iron Man's synthesized voice called as he landed next to Loki. The faceplate slid up and Tony smirked at Loki. "Gotta try harder than that to get rid of us, Babe," he said.

The Avengers had followed him. They were willing to die for him.

Loki swallowed the lump in his throat and shook his head. "This is my fight, you need not bother yourself," he said, his voice cracking. Damn, his mask was slipping.

"The hell we don't," Iron Man shot back. "You're one of us now, and we defend our own. Call it, Cap."

Captain America stood tall and proud and surveyed the surrounding enemy before laying out the basic plan—Black Widow and Hawkeye would take out as many as they could, Iron Man would work on containment, and Thor would try and slow them from coming through the portal. The hulk, of course, would smash all who got in his way, and Cap would give his assistance wherever it was needed. His last instructions were for Jormungand. "See if there's anything you can do to close that portal," he instructed.

Jormungand nodded. "As you wish, dear Captain."

The barrier broke, and the battle began. They did their best, but they were seriously outnumbered. Hawkeye and Widow kept the Chitauri away from Jormungand as he worked to summon enough power to close the portal, and Thor used his lightning to stop any more from coming through. The best Jormungand could do at the moment was combine his magic with his uncle's lightning and form a barrier that would electrocute all who tried to pass it.

Iron Man didn't have to worry about containing them, since they were all focused on killing Loki, so he took down as many as he could.

They all did their best, but in the end there were too many. Jormungand's barrier lost its strength and more Chitauri came through.

Just as all looked lost, an ear-splitting roar cut through the air and a blinding light made everyone shield their eyes. Seconds later, a giant wolf with fur so dark brown it was almost black came crashing through the enemy ranks, swatting away the Chitauri as if they were merely insects. The wolf was followed by hundreds of men in armor, all of them at lest six feet tall. They were led by an old man with an eyepatch riding a black eight-legged horse.

Odin himself and the might of Asgard had joined the fight, but Loki could not stop watching the wolf.

"Fenrir," he breathed, and that was all he had time to do before he had to defend himself against more Chitauri.

They were winning, Loki though suddenly. The force of Odin's army and his son's wrath was killing more and more Chitauri, and Jormungand had made a barrier strong enough to hold off any more from coming through.

"We need to close that portal and make sure everything on the other side can't bother us anymore," Jormungand breathed, exhausted from having to use so much magic at once.

"We can help," said Hela, appearing beside them with Erika by her side.

"I'll bet if we put our magic together, we can zap those bastards and close the portal," said Erika.

Iron Man landed beside them and the faceplate snapped open. "Why the hell did you come here? I thought I told you to stay out of this!"

Erika crossed her arms. "Excuse me, but you should be thanking me right now. I brought us backup, so you're welcome." She gestured to the Asgardian warriors still fighting.

"You brought them here?" Loki asked.

Erika grinned. "Well, I didn't outright bring them here to Earth, but I managed to convince Odin to lend us a hand." She paused. "I may have also kind of yelled at him. And told him who I really was. And then demand he release Fenrir." She paused again, and then gave a shrill whistle. A moment later, a tall young man with wild dark brown hair dressed in furs and armor appeared by her side. "I am not some mongrel pup to be summoned," he growled.

Erika rolled her eyes. "Whatever, we need all the magic we can get right now."

The fighting continued while Erika, Jormungand, Hela, and Fenrir formed a circle.

"Hey, don't forget about me!"

A shorter young man with short black hair came to their circle.

Hela smiled and made room for the newcomer. "We wouldn't dream of it, Sleipnir." The circle reformed and they all clasped hands. The minute they were all connected, a poisonous green glow engulfed them and a barrier made of pure energy cut them off from the rest of the battle.

"Well I'll be damned," Iron man breathed, his faceplate snapping back in place. He was so enamored with the magic going on he didn't notice the Chitauri rushing him with its energy gun aimed right for him.

"Tony, move!" was all Loki said before he took the blast meant for Tony. The Chitairu was taken down seconds later by one of Tony's repulser blasts, but by then it was too late.

* * *

The moment Erika's hands clasped her siblings' the power coursing through her almost knocked her off her feet. Jormungand and Hela kept her upright and she took a deep breath, trying to calm her erratic heartbeat.

"Holy shit," she breathed. She'd been toying with magic lately, but nothing like this. "What now?"

"Like you said," said Jormungand. "Zap the bastards and close the portal."

Another wave of magic swept through the circle and concentrated in the middle before shooting up towards the sky.

The screams of the Chitairu could be heard for miles as they were elextrocuted by the siblings' magic, and one by one the life on the ships died out until none remained. The magic shifted then and surrounded the portal, stitching the sky back up like a torn cloth. When the portal was sealed, the extra magic spread among the remaining Chitauri and fried them like eggs on a hot sidewalk. As soon as the last Chitauri was dead, Erika collapsed. Fenrir helped her sit up and supported her. "Easy, Little Sister," he said softly.

"What a rush," she laughed, trying to catch her breath. After a few moments she managed to get to her feet and turn towards where she last saw her parents. "Not bad, am I right?" she asked with a smirk.

The smirk vanished when she got a good look at the scene in front of her.

Loki lay on the ground, wheezing and coughing, and Tony was kneeling by his side.

Erika's insides froze and she took a hesitant step forward. "Mom?" she asked in a quiet shaky breath. "Mom!" she sprinted forward, falling to the ground beside her parents.

"Momma?"

"Tis nothing, Child," Loki wheezed, then looked towards his other children. "If one of you could be so kind . . . . ?" he trailed off.

Sliepnir knelt beside Loki. "Allow me," he offered, his hands glowing with magic.

"Momma's Boy," Fenrir muttered, and was elbowed by Hela. "Oi!" he complained.

Loki's wound was serious, but nothing any of his children couldn't heal. Tony breathed out a sigh of relief. "Don't scare me like that," he muttered, pulling Loki close.

As tired as he was, Loki did not protest. He only kicked up a fuss when the Allfather deemed them worthy of his attention. "Allfather," he greeted, climbing to his feet. "To what do we owe the honor of your prescence?"

Odin frowned. "You would do well to show gratitude, Silvertongue," he warned. "I have done you a great service."

Loki opened his mouth to say something (spiteful, probably), but was cut off by Tony. "Yes, you have, and we are really, really grateful," he said quickly.

Odin glanced at Tony. "So, this is the Man of Iron. The man who holds my son's heart."

Loki started at that and he gave Odin a wary look.

Odin sighed and gave Loki a small hint of a smile. "no matter what crimes you commit, you are still and always will be my son."

This struck something deep within him, and he remained silent.

After a long discussion (and a lot of arguing), it was decided that Loki would continue to serve his sentence on Midgard, and his children would have a trial period to show the Allfather they were worthy of their newfound freedom. Odin argued heavily against it.

"And why should I allow this?" he asked.

"I don't think they're asking permission," Erika said bravely, and this switched the conversation to focus on her. Her parentage and whether she was dangerous was discussed, but in the end, Odin showed her leniency. With all of this decided, he took his leave, him and the other warriors being summoned back to Asgard.

"What a jerk," Erika snorted. "So glad I'm not actually related to the asshole."

"So," Clint said to Tony after a moment of silence. "You and Loki, huh?"

* * *

A/N: **I know, I know, this chapter sucks. I'm sorry, I did the best I could *hangs head in shame* I promise the next one will be better.**

**Next chapter will focus mainly on Erika and her siblings, with a few sassy comments from Clint thrown in.**


	15. Chapter 15

**I don't own Marvel or any of its characters. If anything, they own me.**

**Unfortunately, our internet is being shut off; this will be the last update for quite a while, but I'll do my best to figure something else out. In the meantime, I thank you all for reading, and hopefully I'll be able to find another job and pay my damn internet bill.**

* * *

Life after 'The Battle' was anything but normal. Not only were there now five immortals living in Stark Tower (five and a half, technically), now the truth about Tony's past with Loki had come to light and everyone was in a different stage of processing this.

Steve's world-view had been turned on its head—again. Not only was it difficult for him to understand the concept of two men together (born and raised before the Fifties, remember?), but it was even harder for him to understand Erika's conception (he was barely getting used to magic—shape shifting and gender swapping were light-years ahead of what he could handle).

Bruce remained a neutral party, understanding that it was Tony's business and nobody else's who he slept with. His only comment was a word of caution to Tony that the Loki he knew then probably wasn't the Loki he knew now.

Natasha had made no comment, but now she watched Erika like a hawk.

Speaking of hawks, Clint had made one or two inquiries as to whether or not Erika was even human; that didn't go over too well and it ended with Jormungand and Fenrir threatening to disembowel him.

Out of all of them, though, Thor was the worst. He didn't trust Jormungand, Hela, or Fenrir, and now that distrust was branching out towards Erika. Erika had really liked Thor—she'd been happy to have an uncle, even if he didn't know he was her uncle.

Having Hela and Jormungand around was nothing new, but showing Fenrir how everything worked was starting to wear Erika out. Every Midgardian thing she showed him was 'beneath him.'

Except for the Xbox.

Like his siblings, he took an immediate liking to it and demanded to be shown all of the games available for it (even the ones for little kids). It had taken Erika almost two weeks to finish Bioshock Infinite (and she'd had a head start, since she'd gotten it a week before its official release date), but Fenrir beat the game, found all the easter eggs, finished all the side quests, and unlocked all the achievements in thirty-six hours.

"Holy crap, you're one hell of a Gamer," she said after he informed her he'd beaten the game, and she worked on finding something else for him to play.

"Is this tower not inhabited by other mortals?" Fenrir asked one morning as he once again found Erika alone in the kitchen.

"Yeah, but I think they're kinda freaked out right now," said Erika, offering her half-brother a cup of coffee, which he gladly accepted (he preferred it black while Jormangund and Hela added sugar and creamer—the amount of CoffeeMate Jormungand used was insane). "Steve, Thor, and Natasha look at me like I might bite someone, Dr. Banner probably wants to run tests on me, and Clint won't even talk to me," she sighed.

Fenrir frowned slightly and Erika could tell he was trying to put those names with the faces of the people he'd met after the battle. "Don't hurt yourself," she said with a small smile, stirring her coffee and taking a sip. "Hopefully they'll get over it."

"Is it not better for them to fear you?" Fenrir asked, clearly confused. "Intimidation is an advantage, after all."

Erika snorted. "Believe me, I know; it only bugs me because . . . ." she trailed off, trying to find the right words. "I've been around these people for a while—they only started acting like I had two heads after the fight."

Fenrir tilted his head slightly and frowned. "Have you talked to Father about this?"

Erika shook her head. "There's not really anything he can do about it."

Their conversation paused as Dr. Banner came into the kitchen looking more tired than Erika had ever seen him. He didn't even acknowledge them—he just grabbed an apple from a bowl on the counter and sat down at the kitchen table, focusing his attention on the StarkPad he had with him.

Fenrir finished his coffee, placed it in the sink (one day she was going to get it through his thick skull to rinse out his own damn mug), and tilted his head towards Dr. Banner in a 'here's your chance' motion before leaving the room. Erika let out a huff of air and went to rinse out her and his mugs. She turned the water off and turned around, studying the doctor for a minute before saying, "Alright, cards on the table."

Dr. Banner looked up from the StarkPad. "Hmm?" he asked absent-mindedly, as if he'd only just noticed there was someone else in the kitchen.

Erika held open her hand and an apple disappeared from the bowl and reappeared into her hand—she was getting better at this magic stuff. "I know how scientists think, okay? I'll bet you're just dying to see what makes me tick."

Okay, she was being kind of a bitch, but to be fair almost a week of nobody talking to her was making her a little moody.

Dr. Banner looked confused for a moment, but then realization dawned on him. "You think that because I know you're Loki's daughter, I'll want to study you," he said in an 'ah-ha' voice, then turned fully in his chair and rested his elbows on his knees. He gave her a tired smile. "Erika, I think you're forgetting something," he said gently.

Erika's head tilted to the side.

"When I'm angry, I turn into when your father calls 'an enormous green rage monster,'" he continued. "Believe me; I've got no right to judge anyone."

Erika's gaze dropped to the ground and she bit her bottom lip. When she looked back up, she was smiling slightly. "The Hulk _is_ pretty cool," she said.

"Well, to be honest, I'd prefer something a little more controllable." Yep, he was definitely looking a little more worn out than usual.

Erika sat down beside him. "Is everything okay, Dr. Banner?" she asked, concerned for the gentle doctor's health—for a good reason, too.

Dr. Banner took off his glasses and massaged the bridge of his nose. "Your . . . . Loki's been letting Tony and I run some tests, to see if there's a way around Odin's spells that are binding his magic, and so far that magic is prevailing over science." He slid his glasses back on. "What I don't get is why his powers never came back—Thor told us about how he was banished here, and how sacrificing himself for that little town restored his powers. Loki essentially sacrificed himself for Tony, but he's still powerless."

Erika shrugged. "Maybe it was because he did it for a selfish reason. At least, I think sacrificing yourself for love is selfish."

Dr. Banner's eyebrows lifted. "And why is that?" he asked, and Erika could almost taste his curiosity.

She shrugged again. "Love is a selfish emotion—you do things for love because you want to protect them, and that's your only reason for doing it. Thor was protecting an entire town—Loki was only protecting someone who meant something to him."

Dr. Banner let out a small 'huh' and typed something into his StarkPad. "So, in theory, if her were to protect someone for purely non-selfish reasons, he'd get his magic back."

"Only in theory, but unless he's put into a situation where he has to save people, I don't think that's gonna happen."

The wheels in Dr. Banner's mind were turning—Erika could practically see them. "A situation where he'd have to help people . . . . ." He said thoughtfully, and then he said a quick goodbye and hurried out of the room.

Erika blinked. "Nice talking to you too," she muttered to the now-empty chair.

* * *

"You want Loki to join the Avengers," Tony deadpanned. "Yeah, that's real funny, Brucie, we're all busting a gut here," he said, turning back to his monitor.

"Tony, I'm serious," Bruce pushed. "He's still got his strength and he's trained to fight—he could help."

"'He' is still in this room and would appreciate it if others did not pretend otherwise," Loki spoke up, still hooked up to one of Tony's machines from their previous tests.

Bruce gave him a quick apology before focusing on Tony again. "It would be protecting people for non-selfish reasons—exactly what Thor had to do to get Mjolnir back." He put his hand on Tony's shoulder. "This could work."

Tony sighed. "You're the last person I'd expect to hear this from—the first person being myself—but I know better. Loki's not exactly a team player." He turned to Loki. "No offense," he added.

Loki did not look offended, so Tony took that as a good sign. He turned back to Bruce and asked the Million-Dollar question: "What made you think of that, anyway?"

Bruce hesitated and glanced back towards Loki, then back at Tony. "It wasn't my idea; only someone with your mind could think up something like this," he said quietly, then gestured to Loki. "Well, your mind and his," he added.

Tony looked confused.

"For a genius, you can be incredibly dense," Loki commented.

"Hey, nobody asked you," said Tony, frowning at the taller man. "And what the hell is that even supposed to mean?"

Loki rolled her eyes. "It seems as if Dr. Banner had been conversing with our darling daughter," he said dryly.

Tony's eyebrows shot up. "Erika gave you the idea," he asked Bruce flatly. Bruce nodded. "Okay, obviously that kid hasn't spent enough time with her mother to know that's a terrible idea."

"Why is it so terrible?" Bruce questioned. "Nobody has to like him in order to fight with him—he doesn't even have to fight," he insisted. "How many times have we needed someone with that strength to rescue civilians from a turned-over bus, or from a collapsing building?"

Tony stared intently at Bruce. "You're seriously considering this, aren't you?" he asked.

Bruce nodded.

Tony scrubbed a hand over his face, then turned on his heels and gave Loki a half-smile. "I guess it would be polite to ask the man in question himself, so here goes nothing—How would you like to be an Avenger?"

Loki frowned. "Do I have a choice?"

"Yep."

"Will you actually acknowledge my choice if I choose not to?"

"Probably not." Now that Bruce had said something, the idea of Loki as an Avenger wasn't leaving him alone and wouldn't leave him alone until he saw said idea come to life. "Bruce has a point—everyone here already tolerates you, and that's better than how this team started out. Plus, you kicked some major Chitauri ass last week," he added.

Loki thought about it for a few silent moments, and then opened his mouth to give Tony his answer.

* * *

Steve, Clint and Natasha were not happy the next time Tony spoke with them. They were beyond not happy, in fact, especially Clint.

"Are you seriously saying you offered that fucker a spot on our team?" Clint asked incredulously. "Because if you're serious, I may just have to punch you. Did you forget what that little shit did to half of Manhattan—"

"While having his mind controlled by his own Glowstick of Destiny, if I'm not mistaken."

"—Not to mention what he did to Coulson—"

"Who is alive and well on his way to a speedy recovery."

Clint took a deep breath through his nose. "Stark, if you say one more word I'm going to punch you in the throat," Clint warned.

"Wow, you're seriously not letting the whole 'mind-control' thing go, are y-hrrk!" Tony gagged and doubled over, coughing and clutching his throat while Steve restrained Clint.

"That's enough, both of you!" said Steve. "Now, look—we've had a lot going on in the last six months, and we're all still on edge from the fight last week. Everyone just needs to take a deep breath and calm down."

"Steve's right," said Bruce, and that made Clint take a few more deep breaths—nobody wanted the Other Guy joining the conversation. "Clint, I know you still have trouble coping with what happened to you, but I thought you were adjusting," he continued.

"Yeah, I was adjusting to having that bastard living in the same building as me—nobody said anything about having to work with him!"

"Did just fine last week," Tony wheezed, his voice rough. "Christ, Barton, that _hurt_." He coughed again. "What, so it's okay for you to make a different call, but nobody else can?"

"At least when Natasha joined S.H.I.E.L.D it wasn't because I was fucking her!" Clint spat.

Tony should've kept his mouth shut, but his mouth said, "You sure about that?" before his brain could stop it, and he ended up with a bloody nose.

The conversation was put on hold due to Tony's broken nose and Clint's storming out of the room, followed by Natasha.

* * *

Tony was cleaning the last of the blood from his face when Loki found him. The taller man took the washcloth from Tony's hand and finished wiping the last few specks of blood from Tony's upper lip. "Barton will burn for this," he murmured.

"S'not my first bloody nose," Tony muttered. "I can deal."

Loki laid the washcloth down and carded his hands through Tony's hair. "He will not get away with harming what is mine," he said before capturing Tony's mouth in a bruising kiss. Tony melted against him. God, he really needed to get laid; he hadn't had sex in months, not since Pepper—

Pepper.

_Shit._

Tony tensed up and broke the kiss. "I can't," was all he said, shaking his head slightly and taking a step back. "Loki, I can't."

The look on Loki's face was a mix of hurt, confusion, and anger. "Do you not remember the relationship we had?"

"No, I remember, I just—"

"Do you no longer desire me?" Loki interrupted, his voice raising in pitch.

Tony gave a humorless laugh. "No, that's not . . . . No. In fact if I didn't, this would be a lot easier," he sighed, gesturing for Loki to sit down, and when Loki didn't move Tony sighed again and said, "For Christ's Sake, Loki, just sit the fuck down and let me try to explain!"

Loki still made no move to sit.

Tony raised his arms in defeat. "Alright, fine, don't sit—whatever." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"You were gone a long time. Things change. People change, sometimes for the worse." He looked at Loki then. "When you . . . when I thought you were . . . dead—"

"But I am not dead," Loki interrupted. "I'm here, and if you care at all for me as I still care for you then I see no problem in—"

"I'm trying to tell you _why _it's a problem!" Tony persisted.

Loki frowned; he was confused and he did not like being confused. "Explain, then," he demanded.

Tony groaned in frustration, taking a few steps back and scrubbing his hands over his face. "I'm trying!" He took another deep breath. "I fell apart after I lost you, okay?" he admitted. "There! Is that what you wanted to hear? I drank myself numb and I started smoking again, and I didn't take care of myself." He paused, ashamed of his next confession. "I wasn't there for Erika. I gave her everything in the world, but I paid her about as much attention as my old man paid me." Tony swallowed the lump in his throat. "It hurt to look at her and see your eyes, so I stopped looking. I was in a dark place, especially after I was abducted and nearly killed in Afghanistan, and this woman—this beautiful, brilliant woman pulled me back up. We've been together for a few years now; it's the most stable relationship I've had in years, and I can't just . . . . I can't . . . ."

Loki shook his head. "I don't understand," he said quietly.

Tony swallowed. "You were gone a long time, Loki. Hell, I thought you were dead."

"But I am not," said Loki, just a little hysterical at this point. "What happened then, what I had to do—none of it matters now because—"

"Because what?" Tony snapped. "What, just because you're here now, ready to play one big happy family with us lowly mortals, until you get bored and decide to leave again?"

"Odin demanded that I leave you, there was nothing I could do!"

"Oh, don't even pull that crap with me! What, just because Daddy tells you to—"

"_That man is not my father__**!**_" Loki practically screamed.

"Well then, that's just so much better! I'm really glad to know that we meant so fucking much to you! Well guess what—too little too late! I'm in a healthy, stable, _normal_ relationship, and I'm not giving that up just because _you_ decide you wanna pick up where we left off! Cards on the table, what's the worst that could've happened if you'd refused, huh? A slap on the wrist? Grounded for a few centuries?"

"**He would have killed you!"**

Silence fell. Loki continued, not even bothering to hide the tremor in his voice. "Had I not done as instructed and altered your memories, the Allfather would have killed you, and had he known about Erika he would have either banished or killed her; the choice was mine—either leave you behind, or watch you die." He shook his head, moving quickly and capturing Tony's face in his hands before Tony could move away. He swallowed, tears flowing freely down his cheeks as he brought Tony in for another kiss, this one softer. They broke apart and Loki swept his thumbs over Tony's cheeks.

"_Due err minn __skuldalið__, min blóð ok hjarta. Ek __elska due, Anthony Edward Stark, eða ek am trauðr við __ missa due_."

Tony let out a shaky breath. "I have no idea what you just said."

Loki kissed him again. "_You are my family, my blood and heart. I love you, Anthony Edward Stark, and am unwilling to lose you_."

Tony's breath caught in his throat and for once, he had nothing else to say.

* * *

Translated using this website:

: / / w w w . . s h t m


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